Sen. Richard Burr is the target of a new Internet ad campaign that seeks to tie his political contributions from the defense industry and the Chamber of Commerce to his vote on a bill involving how overseas American contractors handle allegations of rape.

"Did Sen. Burr Put Campaign Cash Above Victims of Gang Rape?" says the online ad that is scheduled to begin running today by Change Congress, a Washington-based group that pushes campaign finance reform.

The group is currently running ads on other issues targeting Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas, all Democrats.

"We've had a series of campaigns that have tried to point out cases where members have voted consistent with contributors but inconsistent with their constitutuents," Larry Sessig, the co-founder of Change Congress said in an interview.

   Comments (0)

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, is ahead of Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, one of his potential Democratic opponents, by ten points, according to a poll by the conservative Civitas Institute.

Among those surveyed, 43.7 percent backed Burr, while 33 percent picked Marshall.

The poll, released Friday, surveyed 600 voters by live interviews on October 20 and 21 and has a margin of error of 4 percent.

Marshall and Durham lawyer Kenneth Lewis have declared their candidacy for the Democratic nomination to challenge Burr next year. Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham is considering a run.

A new poll has found that 42 percent of North Carolinians say someone else should have U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's seat.

The Elon University Poll found that 19 percent of state residents believe Burr deserves another term in office, according to the survey of 703 state residents that was conducted Oct. 26-29.

The poll also found 29 percent of respondents said they "don't know" if Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, deserves re-election.

Burr’s approval rating stands at 37 percent, the poll found, while 22 percent of respondents disapprove of the way he is handling his job. Forty-one percent don’t know how they feel on his job performance.

Two Democrats have formally entered the race. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and lawyer Kenneth Lewis have filed candidate paperwork.

The poll also asked respondents for their opinions on other political figures.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan: 35 percent approve, 35 percent disapprove, 29 percent don’t know.

Gov. Beverly Perdue: 36 percent approve, 47 percent disapprove, 18 percent don’t know.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Update: The National Republican Senatorial Committee weighed in on the poll. Expect to see this one a lot from Colin Reed, a spokesman for the committee:

In the words of Erskine Bowles just last week, 'nobody works harder or smarter for North Carolina than Richard Burr does.' It speaks to Senator Burr’s strength at home that as national Democrats struggle to recruit a strong challenger, his former opponent continues to offer nothing but praise for his hard work on behalf of North Carolina in the U.S. Senate.

And the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued it's own statement from spokesman Eric Schultz.

Whether it was its when he suggested a run on the banks, his hypocrisy over stimulus funding, or his inexplicable vote against justice for victims of sexual assault, it should come as no surprise that Richard Burr is the most vulnerable Republican in the United States Senate. 

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr has $3,461,445 in his campaign account.

Burr has received more than $3 million in contributions since 2007, according to federal campaign finance records. Of that amount, $1.4 million came from individual contributions and $1.2 million came from political action or other committees.

Contributors include the Associated Builders and Contractors ($5,000), a Bank of America PAC ($5,000), a Federation of American Hospitals PAC ($5,000), Thomas Mann of Raleigh, chairman of GE Insurance ($2,000), Duke Energy President James Rogers of Charlotte ($2,400) and Jerry Smith, CEO of Le Bleu water company ($2,400).

Previously: Democrat Kenneth Lewis who is running against Burr has $184,000. 

Democratic Senate candidate Kenneth Lewis has received some help from one of the major heavy hitters in the Democratic Party.

Peter L. Buttenwieser of Philadelphia, a long-time Democratic fund raiser, gave Lewis $1,500 to Lewis, an attorney from Chapel Hill, who is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Richard Burr, according to Lewis' latest campaign report.

Buttenwieser is well known in Democratic circles as a big-time fund raiser, Rob Christensen reports. He is also a major donor having contributed about $3 million to the Democratic Party or Democratic candidates during the past decade, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Lewis met Buttenwieser during a fund raising trip to Philly.

Lewis faces Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and possibly other candidates in next May's Democratic primary.

Kenneth Lewis has $184,000 through the end of September.

According to federal election records through the third quarter, Lewis has raised $264,816 in his bid to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate and challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

Notable contributors include several lawyers at Womble Carlyle, the firm where Lewis works. Other contributions came from Chapel Hill consultant Leonard Buck ($2,400), Durham investment advisor Isaac Green ($2,400) and Christopher Quinn ($2,400), president of Imprint Learning Solutions, a Durham marketing firm.

Dome will be writing posts about the campaign fundraising results for the third quarter as they become available. Burr's report for the quarter is not yet online.

WATER HAZARD: Former Gov. Mike Easley's office intervened on behalf of an exclusive golf club that needed millions of gallons of water during a devastating drought. The club had given Easley a free membership worth $50,000. (N&O)

HARRELL REPLACED: Chris Heagarty, a former director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education, will replace Ty Harrell in the state House. Harrell resigned last month to address a campaign finance investigation. When a legislator resigns, his or her party picks the successor. (N&O)

IN THIS CORNER: Lawyer Kenneth Lewis held a public kick-off for his campaign to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate on Sunday. Lewis and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall are running for the right to challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican next year. (N&O)

HAPPENING TODAY: Burr, who needs to raise his profile to take on his Demoratic challengers, is holding an economic development summit in Durham.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is touting her early fundraising success as a way to get more money for her U.S. Senate bid.

Marshall is a veteran of Democratic politics, but so far a front-runner for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr has not emerged. 

In a newsletter sent to supporters, Marshall's campaign says she raised $180,000 in the two weeks in September after she filed her federal election paperwork. That gives her enough to pay her campaign expenses through May, according to the memo sent to supporters.

While noting Marshall is on track to meet her fundraising goals, the newsletter notes that 60 percent of primary voters are women and that 75 percent of them will be older than 50. The age statistic that is surely meant to suggest that Marshall, 63, may have more appeal than announced candidate Kenneth Lewis, 48, and possible candidate Cal Cunningham, 36.

That last line of reasoning assumes that people only vote for people who are like themselves. Gov. Beverly Perdue didn't get any special support from women either before or after her election, so that theory may not be totally correct.

Is it possible that North Carolina voters aren't happy with Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, but still like him a lot better than any of the Democratic alternatives?

That seems to be the message from the latest survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm that surveyed 683 voters from Oct. 2-4.

Burr's approval rating was just 36 percent. That's down slightly from last month's survey, which had Burr's approval rating at 38 percent.

But when voters were asked about possible match-ups with some of the possible Democratic candidates, Burr easily came out on top. Here's a look at what the survey found:

   Comments (7)

Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham of Lexington continues to act like a U.S. Senate candidate, but he is not yet ready to announce a decision.

Cunningham was working the crowd at the Democrat's annual Vance-Aycock fund raising dinner in Asheville over the weekend, and he spent a few days last week in Washington attending a seminar put on by The Truman National Security Project, which trains young Democrats on security issues, Rob Christensen reports. He also met with Sen. John Kerry of Mass. and others.

But Cunningham said he has not made a decision on whether to enter the 2010 race for the seat now held by Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

"I am continuing to test the waters with Democrats around North Carolina," Cunningham said. But he added: "I am very heartened by the encouragement. North Carolina is looking for energetic new leadership."

Cunningham may be holding off until he sees what Congressman Bob Etheridge of Lillington decides.

Etheridge has been encouraged to get into the race by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which carries a lot of clout because of its ability to bank roll a Senate campaign. But Etheridge has not been moving around the state, and he was not at the Vance-Aycock Dinner, which is considered a must for a potential Democratic Senate candidate.

There are already two Democratic Senate candidates in the race, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Durham attorney Kenneth Lewis. Both Marshall and Lewis hosted hospitality suites at the Grove Park Inn, the site of the dinner.