McCrory lead over Perdue growing, poll says

With barely two years before the next election, former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has a 15 percent lead in a poll by the conservative Civitas Institute.  That's up from a 6 percent lead in a June poll, the Institute said.  It found that 51 percent of voters would vote for McCrory, a Republican, if the governor's race were today, while 36 percent would support the governor. Twelve percent identified themselves as undecided.

Here's part of a Civitas news release:

"Support for Perdue is low as voters see job creation and economic recovery remaining flat,” said Civitas Institute Francis De Luca.  “Despite press releases heralding new jobs and incentive giveaways, voters are not seeing improvement in the employment picture.”

 McCrory leads among Republicans by an 83 percent-8 percent margin and among unaffiliated voters (53 percent-23 percent).  Democratic voters support Perdue by a 64 percent-29 percent margin.

 “Perdue has an uphill climb in light of the recent midterm elections, bleak jobs picture and the challenging state budget situation,” added De Luca.  “In the next few months, the public will see whether she works with the new Republican leadership to balance the budget and improve the employment picture.  If successful, that may prove critical to her reelection plans.”