North Carolina voters say that Jesse Helms is their favorite Senator. John Edwards, whose reputation has been better, was the least popular, according to a poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling.
PPP asked more than 750 state residents to rate the state's last seven U.S. Senators. When asked for their favorite, 35 percent named Helms, the only Senator to be re-elected in more than 40 years. Edwards was picked by 19 percent and Terry Sanford by 16 percent.
But when the poll asked for which Senator voters had the least favorable opinion of, 41 percent named Edwards, a Democrat. Helms, a Republican, was named by 29 percent. Predictably, Helms was less popular with voters who identified as liberal or Democrats.
Sanford, a Democrat, had the lowest negative rating.
"You could make an argument from the overall numbers that Sanford is actually the most positively remembered of this group," said PPP's Tom Jensen.
Current Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan were near the bottom of both questions. Burr was the favorite of 4 percent and the least favorite of 3 percent. Hagan was the favorite of 9 percent and the least favorite of 7 percent.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.
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Re: Helms most, Edwards least popular Sens
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