Voters are slightly more likely to vote for Republican legislative candidates, according to a recent poll.

The GOP has independents to thank, since they said they would vote Republican by a wide margin, according to the survey by Public Policy Polling.

Voters said they would vote Republican in state legislative races by 45 to 44 margin and by a 45 to 43 margin in congressional races. Republicans are faring well, despite the state's heavily Democratic registration, because independents are siding with the GOP and Republicans are more unified, PPP's Tom Jensen wrote.

Those results come one week after a Civitas Institute poll showed similar results.

The PPP poll surveyed 711 voters from Nov. 9 to 11 and has a margin of error of 3.7 percent.

Another poll shows Gov. Bev Perdue clawing her way out of basement-dwelling public support numbers.

Perdue received 30 percent approval in a survey released Monday by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm. It's the first time since June that the group's survey has shown Perdue's approval out of the 20's.

The poll showed 49 percent of respondents disapprove, and 22 percent were unsure.

PPP attributed the rise to Democrats warming back up to Perdue. Last month more Democrats disapproved of her job performance than approved, but in the current poll, 46 percent approved versus 32 percent who did not.

The poll surveyed 711 N.C. voters from Nov. 9 to 11 and has a margin of error of 3.7 percent.

A Civitas Institute poll last week also showed Perdue's numbers rising.

North Carolinians appear to be a bit more satisfied with U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.

The latest survey by Public Policy Polling shows that the numbers have improved slightly for Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican who is up for re-election next year.

PPP surveyed 711 North Carolina voters from Nov. 9-11. They found that 40 percent of North Carolinians approve of the job Burr is doing, while 31 percent disapprove. That's better than the 38 percent rating Burr got in last month's poll by PPP, and 36 percent in September.

Burr leads U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (45-35), Secretary of State Elaine Marshall (45-34), former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker (45-33), Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy (44-32), and Chapel Hill attorney Ken Lewis (45-32).

The survey's margin of error was plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

Cal Cunningham's poll numbers didn't move much during the period where he was exploring a bid for U.S. Senate.

Cunningham, a Lexington lawyer, was the non-candidate candidate, who appeared at events and quietly looked at a run against Republican Sen. Richard Burr, giving Dome plenty of chances to use duck similes. Now, Dome must put away the quacks because Cunningham is out.

It's likely that his decision had something to do with whatever it is U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge will decide about the race.

It's also helpful to note that Cunningham had the same level of support against Burr in October than he did in February. Public Policy Polling noted in February that Burr was leading Cunningham 46 to 27. In October, the pollster pulled the same percentages. Pollster.com, which averages and analyzes polling data, showed that Cunningham's support over time was only slightly better than a flat line.

And for the record, Pollster.com shows declared candidate Kenneth Lewis with an average of 29.1 percent to Burr's 44.5. It's notable that Lewis and Cunningham, two unknowns, were getting similar numbers suggesting that polling results in their cases are more about Burr's level of support.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, also a declared candidate, has 31.2 percent to Burr's 43.9 percent, according to Pollster.com's analysis. And Etheridge has 34.7 percent to 43.3 percent for Burr.

One poll says North Carolinians are increasingly opposed to health care reform proposals advanced by Democrats.

Another poll says more than half of state residents support those proposals. A third national poll says 45 percent of Americans oppose President Barack Obama's health care plan.

Dome isn't an expert on these sorts of things, but it's a safe bet that how the questions were asked and how the polls were conducted has something to do with the difference. Here's a quick roundup of what the October polls asked and what respondents said. Percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding.

Civitas Institute: (600 North Carolina voters) "Do you approve or disapprove of the health care plan being proposed by Barack Obama and Congress?" 49 percent opposed, 40 percent supported, 10 percent no opinion.

Elon University Poll, (703 state residents) "As you are likely aware, the public option is a health insurance option provided by the federal government...so, with this in mind, would you [support or oppose] health insurance legislation that would offer a public option?" 54 support, 38 percent oppose and 7 percent don't know.

Public Policy Polling (766 American voters) "Do you support or oppose President Obama’s health care plan, or do you not have an opinion?" 42 percent support, 45 percent oppose and 13 percent no opinion.

Pat McCrory may have lost last year’s race for governor and then opted not to run for reelection as Charlotte’s mayor, but he’s still got clout with voters.

McCrory’s popularity among Charlotte voters is boosting the campaign of his fellow Republican, John Lassiter, according to an analysis by Tom Jensen, of the Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling.

McCrory holds broad support among Republicans and even more than a third of Democrats approve of the job he has done.

“His 69 percent approval with independents is one of the best we've measured for any politician in the country this year,” Jensen wrote in a recent blog posting.

Two surveys bear good news for Republicans looking to make an impression in next year's elections.

The conservative Civitas Institute has found that a majority of voters would go Republican in next year's Congressional races. The survey of 600 registered voters found that 52 percent would vote Republican, 29 percent would pick a Democrat and 9 percent were unsure.

Meanwhile, a poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found that 46 percent of North Carolina voters would pick a Republican in next year's legislative races and 48 percent would go with a Republican in a Congressional race. The poll found that 39 percent of voters would go Democratic in the state legislative race and 38 percent would pick go with the "D" in Congressional races. In both races, 15 percent of voters were undecided. 

The PPP survey of 683 voters from Oct. 2-4 had a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

The Civitas survey of 600 registered voters was conducted Sep. 29-30 and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

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:

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President Barack Obama's approval is in the mid-40s, two new polls show.

The Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found a 45 percent approval rating and the conservative-leaning Civitas Institute pulled a 44 percent rating.

"North Carolina is one of the few states where Obama's standing has declined enough that he probably wouldn't win it again if the election was held today," PPP's Tom Jensen notes.

"It looks like the honeymoon is definitely ending for President Obama, said Francis De Luca, executive director of the Civitas Institute.

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Gov. Beverly Perdue is better liked in 919 than 704 or 336.

A pair of polls show her approval ratings continue to slip and a deeper look shows that Perdue's strongest aproval comes in the Triangle area. 

In the poll conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, Perdue had a 40 percent approval rating compared to her 18 percent rating in the 704 area code that includes Charlotte. In the 336 area code which includes Greensboro, Perdue 13 percent approved or Perdue's performance.

Of course it's hard to know what to make of all this when the Civitas Institute poll shows consistent approval in Charlotte (28 percent), Greensboro (33 percent) and Raleigh (28 percent).