Kay Hagan sinks lower in North Carolina polls

Approval ratings continue to drop for Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, who is seeking re-election in the key battleground state of North Carolina, according to a new poll.

The result of the latest Elon University Poll shows that approval of Hagan, now at roughly 33 percent, has declined in four consecutive polls.

"The trend suggests the senator will face a tougher-than-expected re-election battle this November," said Dr. Jason Husser, assistant director of the Elon University Poll.

Further troubling for Hagan is the roughly equivalent disapproval of her job performance by women and men. Thirty-three percent of women and 34 percent of men surveyed approved of Hagan's work.

Hagan has been pummelled for months by negative advertising. Americans For Prosperity, funded in part by the Koch brothers, has alone spent more than $8 million so far on advertising attacking Hagan -- more than the group has funneled to any other race so far this election cycle.

North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis is widely considered to be the Republican best positioned to face Hagan. He has received implicit support from national Republicans but must win a competitive primary race to become the party's nominee.

Didn’t have much choice...the GOP in NC deserves a tremendous amount of credit for taking the fight to the opposition since 2008; that’s why they’re a majority party in the state and will send Kay Hagan home this fall.

I only wish the GOP in neighboring VA would follow the model and start winning elections again. We have a great opportunity this fall with Ed Gillespie, if the GOP-e and the Tea Party can quit bickering long enough to get behind him. If not, Mark Warner will be a senator-for-life, and a lot of us in the Old Dominion will be looking for employment and housing options in places like Tennessee.

As for Arkansas, Tom Cotton is a lightning-in-a-bottle candidate who only comes around so often. Whip smart; Harvard Law grad, former Army infantry officer and Ranger. Cut from the same cloth as Ted Cruz and tailor-made for a conservative electorate who’s ready to get rid of Mark Pryor. In fact, the only Dim who might give Cotton a run for his money is the current governor, Mike Beebe. But the governor will be 70 at the end of his current term, and there’s some belief that he’s ready to call it a career.

Put another way: outside of Mark Pryor, there are very few Dims in Arkansas who want to mount a losing battle against Tom Cotton. They are more that happy to let Pryor go down in flames and examine their options down the road. I can also say there are a fair number of Dims in Arkansas who are tired of the Pryors, who’ve gotten rich at the public trough.

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