New results from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling find that former Congressman Bob Etheridge easily leads his opponents in the Democrats’ primary for governor:
Among just the candidates currently announced Etheridge is at 30% to 24% for Walter Dalton and 6% for Bill Faison. On a question including every big name currently considering the race Etheridge gets 21% to 13% for Dan Blue, 10% for Dalton, 8% for Brad Miller, 7% for Richard Moore, 6% for Mike McIntyre, and 2% for Faison.
Etheridge’s early success is being driven by regional strength in the Triangle and down east. In the announced candidate field he leads Dalton 42-20 in the Triangle, 35-16 in southeastern North Carolina, and 34-12 in northeastern North Carolina. Etheridge is also unusually strong with men, leading 36-24.
Etheridge also is unusually strong with young men.
Poor polling numbers continue to haunt Faison, according to the PPP results:
Faison is clearly the weakest of the potential candidates. He finishes in last place in every possible field, and he also has a greater than 2:1 negative favorability ratio with only 9% of primary voters seeing him positively to 20% with an unfavorable view.
The News & Observer has a good story this morning on Sen. Dan Blue’s potential entry into the race.
