Senate races

Poll: Hagan’s lead over Tillis narrows

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) has a narrow lead over North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis (R), according to a new poll conducted for USA Today.

{mosads}Hagan leads Tillis 45 percent to 43 percent, with Libertarian Party candidate Sean Haugh at 5 percent in the live-caller poll, conducted by Suffolk University. That’s within the poll’s margin of error.

Those numbers are in line with most other recent public polling, which has found a tight race in the Tar Heel State.

Interestingly, Hagan’s approval rating is lower than President Obama’s in the poll. Hagan is at 41 percent, while Obama is at 45 percent, higher than he’s been in most other polling of the state.

North Carolina is a pivotal Senate battleground. 

The live-caller poll of 500 likely voters reached on both landlines and cellphones was conducted Aug. 16–19 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.