PPP poll: Pat McCrory holds 7-point lead; Dalton still largely unknown

Pat McCrory is sitting on a comfortable 7-point lead against Democratic rival Walter Dalton, according to a new survey from the Democratic firm.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate's 43 percent support bests Dalton's 36 percent and gives him a larger margin than two recent polls (here and here) showing the race a dead-heat. But it matches a June PPP poll giving McCrory an identical advantage.

In the July PPP poll, Libertarian candidate Barbara Howe received 9 percent and 12 percent of  voters remain undecided. The poll's margin of error is plus-or-minus 3.5 percent.

(Expect McCrory's camp to trumpet the poll results -- even though the candidate has repeatedly bashed PPP as biased and liberal.)

Of the 775 North Carolina voters polled over four days, 40 percent view McCrory favorably and 30 percent unfavorably. Dalton remains largely unknown with 49 percent having no opinion about him and the remaining half evenly split, the results showed.

McCrory continues to win the independent vote -- by 20 percent in this poll -- and even 15 percent of Democrats. About one in five Democrats view Dalton unfavorably. And a racial divide continues to persist with whites and those listed as "other" backing McCrory and blacks supporting Dalton.