Democratic pollster Dean Debnam of Public Policy Polling is behind a new TV ad criticizing the neighborhood school candidates in the heated race for Wake County School Board.

Debnam, who owns the Democratic polling firm, said he formed Wake Citizens for Good Government to counter what he called Republican "lies" about the school system, T. Keung Hui reports on his WakeEd blog.

He said his ad was not done in coordination with any candidates. Debnam said his company has been doing polling in the school board districts. But he said the data was for internal use and not as a public poll.

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A poll shows North Carolinians split on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.

The survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found 43 opposed confirming Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, 39 percent supported it and 18 percent were not sure.

"It's interesting that the state doesn't fit the overall conventional wisdom that this was a good pick by Obama," said president Dean Debnam in a statement.

Recent national polls have shown more voters thought Sotomayor was an excellent or good pick than a fair or poor one. 

One reason for the split was that more Republicans opposed Sotomayor than Democrats favored her. Independents were mostly split.

The automated survey of 609 voters was conducted from May 28 to May 30. The margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr leads seven potential contenders.

In a survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, the Winston-Salem Republican had an advantage over seven Democrats when given only name, party and sometimes title.

In order from Burr's biggest to smallest leads:

Burr (48) Walter Dalton (29) Undecided (22)
Burr (44) Heath Shuler (28) Undecided (28)
Burr (47) Bob Etheridge (31) Undecided (22)
Burr (47) Richard Moore (34) Undecided (19)
Burr (44) Dan Blue (33) Undecided (23)
Burr (46) Elizabeth Edwards (35) Undecided (19)

The firm also tested former state Sen. Cal Cunningham, giving a two-sentence glowing description about his time in Iraq and as a former state senator:

Burr (42) Cunningham (34) Undecided (24)

"Although it's taking Democrats a while to get a candidate, Burr's standing is still tenuous, and getting someone with a lot of name recognition isn't necessarily that important to winning next year," said pollster Dean Debnam.

The firm did not test Durham attorney Kenneth Lewis, who has said he may run.

A new poll shows Roy Cooper ahead in 2010.

The survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling showed the Democratic attorney general with 41 percent support over Republican Sen. Richard Burr, who had 37 percent.

Cooper has not yet said whether he will run, but he is widely considered the frontrunner among potential Democratic candidates. A recent Civitas poll found Cooper leading Burr 41-38.

The poll also found Burr had a 35/31 percent favorable/unfavorable rating, compared to 41/20 for Cooper.

"If Roy Cooper enters the race for US Senate this race automatically becomes a tossup, if not even slightly Democratic leaning," said president Dean Debnam in a statement.

The poll also found Burr leading Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre, 39-34.

The automated survey of 979 registered voters was taken from April 8-11. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr leads over a hypothetical challenger.

In a poll by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, the Winston-Salem Democrat received 43 percent, while Secretary of State Elaine Marshall received 35 percent. Twenty-two percent were undecided.

Burr is running for re-election in 2010. No Democrat has officially challenged him, although Attorney General Roy Cooper is widely expected to run. Marshall ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic Senate primary in 2002.

Paired against a generic Democratic opponent in the same poll, Burr did roughly the same, garnering 42 percent to 38 percent who would back the Democrat.

"This poll is just more confirmation of what we've found every time we've looked at Richard Burr," said PPP president Dean Debnam, calling him "very vulnerable" next year.

The automated survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted March 12-15. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percent.

Voters support an anti-bullying bill but oppose mandated sick days, a poll shows.

The survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found that 69 percent of likely voters supported a bill that would "require schools to protect children from bullying, including harassment based on their race, sexual orientation, and other categories."

Thirty-nine percent opposed the bill as described.

A similar survey by Public Policy Polling last year found 72 percent in support of the measure.

The poll also found that 65 percent of likely voters did not think the state should mandate paid sick leave, as has been proposed in a second bill. Only 35 percent supported it.

"North Carolinians think that benefits should be determined by employers and employees on a case by case basis," said company president Dean Debnam.

The automated survey of 1,000 North Carolina voters was conducted March 12-15. It has a margin of error of plus orminus 3.1 percentage points.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr fared better in another poll.

The Winston-Salem Republican beat U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler in a hypothetical matchup for the 2010 Senate race done by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm in Raleigh.

Burr had 39 percent; Shuler, 28. 

Dean Debnam, president of the polling firm, argued that the results were pretty good for Shuler.

"Heath Shuler trails Richard Burr in this initial poll, but the two most telling things are Burr's continued low approval rating and Shuler's significant popularity in the part of the state where he is well known to the voters," he said in a statement.

A survey last month showed Attorney General Roy Cooper beating Burr, 39-34; while a poll for the liberal Web site Daily Kos showed Burr winning, 45-43.

Polling this early in an election cycle is often not predictive, however, because none of the Democrats are officially running and no advertising has been done.

The automated phone survey of 650 North Carolina voters was taken Jan. 17-18. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Another poll shows Beverly Perdue ahead.

A recent survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling shows the Democratic gubernatorial candidate with 48 percent, Republican Pat McCrory with 44 percent and Libertarian Mike Munger with four percent.

Five percent were undecided.

Recent polls in the governor's race have shown a tight race between Perdue and McCrory.

"The race for Governor could certainly still go either way but the momentum is in Bev Perdue's direction right now," said company president Dean Debnam.

The automated survey of 1,200 likely voters was taken on Oct. 18-19. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

Barack Obama has a slim lead in North Carolina.

According to a recent survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, the Democratic presidential candidate had 49 percent, Republican John McCain had 46 percent and Libertarian Bob Barr had one percent.

Three percent were undecided.

"For the longest time Barack Obama basically had free rein in North Carolina, but John McCain is finally starting to make some visits and put some money in here," said president Dean Debnam. "With both campaigns contesting strongly here North Carolina looks like it will be one of the closest states in the country on election night."

The survey of 1,196 likely voters was taken on Oct. 11-12. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. 

The latest swing in the governor's race is in Beverly Perdue's favor, according to the latest results from Public Policy Polling.

PPP surveyed 1,202 likely voters on Oct. 4-5 and found that Perdue was the preference of 46 percent. Republican Pat McCrory was the choise of 43 percent, and Libertarian Mike Munger was the choice of 4 percent.

The margin of error was plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

Officials with PPP say that problems with the economy are bolstering Perdue's campaign. They said Perdue had a 56-35 lead among likely voters who say their top concern is the economy. That's up from 48-38 among such voters a week ago.

"She's connecting better with voters as she talks more about the economy, and that's helping to bring some of her base voters home," said Dean Debnam, president of PPP, a Democratic polling firm.