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Gov. Bev Perdue and several other Democratic Party leaders are scheduled to attend a Thursday fundraiser in Raleigh for a group that's hoping to wrest control of the Wake County school board away from the Republican majority.

The stated goal of the fundraiser for the Wake Citizens for Good Government PAC is to benefit Wake school board candidates "who support high quality public schools for all children." The PAC was formed in 2009 and unsuccessfully ran a television attack ad against Republican-backed school board candidates.

The PAC was formed by Dean Debnam, president of the Democratic-leaning polling firm of Public Policy Polling. PPP has recently conducted surveys on Wake school issues for what the firm says is a private client.

Democrats have tried to rally their base against the changes made by the Republican school board majority, including the elimination of the use of socioeconomic diversity in student assignment.

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.