For the third time in the past six months, poll results from Public Policy Polling show Deborah Ross, a Democrat and former N.C. representative, within striking distance of incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, but still struggling with raising her profile in North Carolina.
The latest results from PPP, based in Raleigh, show Burr with a four-point lead over Ross among 960 registered voters who participated in the phone poll this past weekend. PPP released the results Wednesday.
Burr holds a wider lead in a February poll from SurveyUSA, done for Time Warner Cable in North Carolina. That poll showed him with an eight-point lead.
Public Policy Polling, or PPP, has Democratic leanings.
In an analysis of the recent poll results, PPP said the U.S. Senate race is “unexpectedly competitive” this year.
The polling shows Ross has a slight advantage over Burr among “independent” voters but, more than half of those polled said they had no opinion of Ross.
Forty percent of those asked favored Burr. Thirty-six percent favored Ross. Libertarian candidate Sean Haugh polled at 7 percent.
PPP’s April results are similar to figures released in polls in October 2015 and March 2016. In those polls, Burr held a four-point and five-point lead, respectively, over Ross.
Burr holds a wider lead over Ross in a poll from SurveyUSA, done in February for Time Warner Cable in North Carolina. That poll showed Burr with an eight-point lead.
Anna Douglas: 202-383-6012, @ADouglasNews