U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole retains her lead.
According to a recent survey by the conservative Civitas Institute, the Salisbury Republican had 47 percent support, Democratic rival Kay Hagan had 38 percent and Libertarian Chris Cole had 2 percent. Fourteen percent were undecided.
"Dole continues to hold onto a very strong lead even as Hagan has matched her dollar for dollar over the last few months in fundraising," said executive director Francis DeLuca.
That matches recent polls by Rasmussen Reports, Survey USA and the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, which all show Dole with a substantial lead.
The live-caller survey of 600 likely voters was conducted July 14-16 by TelOpinion Research of Alexandria, Va., The margin of error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.



