RALEIGH, N.C. (Legal Newsline) – Although he continues to trail in money raised, state Rep. Thom Tillis, the Republican challenger looking to unseat U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, is only trailing the Democratic incumbent by four points, the latest poll shows.
North Carolina voters favor Hagan to Tillis by a 42-38 percent margin, with eight percent of those surveyed saying they would vote for the Libertarian candidate, Sean Huagh, according to Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday.
“Although the North Carolina Senate race remains close, this does make six months in a row we’ve found Kay Hagan with a small lead,” said Dean Debnam, president of PPP. “The extent to which conservatives unhappy with Tillis will stick with Haugh moving forward is a big thing to keep an eye on.”
With less than three months to until Election Day, Hagan will have more cash to spend to carry her message to voters.
Since 2009, Hagan has raised more than $16.6 million. She has more than $8.7 million cash on hand, according to opensecrets.org.
Her Republican rival, Tillis, has raised more than $4.7 million so far in the 2014 election cycle, and has around $1.5 remaining in his war chest.
Campaign finance reports show Hagan has received a sizeable portion of her funding from political action committees, with nearly $3.4 million of her total funding coming from PACs.
Her top five industries supporters include leadership PACs ($419,500), pharmaceuticals ($390,298) and lawyers and law firms ($389,482).
PPP surveyed 856 likely voters from Aug. 14 to 17.
Reach David Yates at elections@legalnewsline.com
N.C. U.S. Senate race: Tillis catching up to Hagan in polls, still trailing financially
