Hagan's lead grows over Tillis in new PPP poll of Senate race

RALEIGH, NC (WECT) - A new poll of North Carolina's highly-watched Senate race shows incumbent Kay Hagan's lead widening over Thom Tillis with less than four months left before Election Day.

Public Policy Polling surveyed more than 1000 voters from July 17-20, and responders put her at 41 percent preference for the seat, compared to 34 percent for Tillis and 8 percent for Libertarian candidate Sean Haugh. The poll found 16 percent of responders are still undecided.

A PPP poll done in June had Hagan ahead 39/34 over Tillis, and in May Hagan's lead was 38/36. The extended General Assembly short session may explain at least some of the reason for the growth. Only 19 percent of the responders in the poll approve of the job done by lawmakers in Raleigh, compared to 57 percent of those who said they disapprove. Tillis' favorability rating logs at 24 percent who have a positive opinion compared to 47 percent having a negative opinion. Hagan continued to poll negative approval numbers as well, with 50 percent saying they disapprove of her job performance and 40 percent who approve.

"Kay Hagan's lead just continues to rise as the legislature spends longer and longer and longer in session," Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling said in an email news release accompanying the new polling data. "The big question though is whether she'll be able to sustain this bigger lead once they've gone home, or if the race will quickly return back to normal like it did last year."

To see the complete data from the latest PPP poll, click here: http://bit.ly/1paQwOI.

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