One of the Republican Party's paths to Senate control was supposed to go straight through North Carolina, where Democratic incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan was supposed to be mortally wounded by Obamacare. But Hagan not only holds onto a lead in a new Public Policy Polling poll—
her margin is growing. Hagan leads Republican nominee Thom Tillis by a seven-point margin, 41 percent to 34 percent, with a Libertarian candidate drawing eight percent. In June, Hagan's lead was five points, and in May it was just two points.
How does Hagan, with job performance ratings of 40 percent approve to 50 percent disapprove, have a growing lead? Partly it's that Libertarian candidate's eight percent:
... Hagan is very much being propped up right now by the 8% Haugh is receiving, which does not seem likely to hold through until November. When Haugh voters are reallocated to who they would support if they had to pick between Hagan and Tillis, her lead drops to 42-39.
But while that is a serious note of caution, it points to the fact that voters really,
really don't like Tillis, the Speaker of the state House, who is seen favorably by just 24 percent and unfavorably by 47 percent; just 19 percent of voters approve of the job the state legislature is doing, with 57 percent disapproving.
What, a guy who can't take criticism from a woman without dismissing it as "born out of emotions" and thinks that white people are "the traditional population" of North Carolina isn't warm, cuddly, and beloved by voters? Thinking that the state has the right to ban contraceptives doesn't endear you to voters in the wake of Hobby Lobby? The poll finds that Hagan has a 44-27 lead among women, and that 54 percent of voters would be less likely to vote for a candidate who wants to restrict access to affordable birth control, so maybe no, Tillis's position is not actually in line with his state's voters.
This is still going to be a tough race, with millions of dollars in outside spending from the Koch brothers and the like. But once again, Republicans have come up with a candidate who's going to be a really hard sell to voters—because of his ardent embrace of Republican policies and his failure to hide that well enough.