North Carolina's Democratic Senate primary is wide open with most voters undecided, according to a new poll.
According to a head-to-head matchup, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall has the most support with 14 percent, followed by Chapel Hill lawyer Ken Lewis with 7 percent and former state Sen. Cal Cunningham with 4 percent, according to a survey conducted for The Civitas Institute, Rob Christensen reports. But 75 percent were undecided.
"With only a little over three months until the primary, no candidate has stepped forward to claim the front-runner mantle," said Francis de Luca, the institute's executive director.
Only Marshall has run state-wide. None of the candidates have begun any TV or radio advertising for their May 4th primary election. The winner will challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.
Lewis' support comes primarily from younger, African-American voters in the Triad and the Northeast. Cunningham is strongest with younger voters.
The survey of 390 likely Democratic and unaffiliated voters was conducted Jan. 19-21 by Tel Opinion Research of Arlington, Virginia. The margin of error was 5 percentage points.

Comments
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 27, 2010 - 8:44am — mmclendonThe important thing to do by all Americans voting, is to flush out the incumbents running for re-election. It is an easy choice for independent voters that do not have to adhere to to a party platform. But if you are a member of one of the two parties and you have an incumbent running for re-election, be especially mindful of the miserable performance and rampant corruption from your Senator or Representative. Vote 'em out now.
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 27, 2010 - 12:13am — Johnlawretmarcedwards1 must be related to Papa John Edwards and challenged in math if he doesn't realize the Current Democratic Congress and Poser Obama has run us further into the Red Ink than all the other Presidents combined. We need another Democrat in Congress like Custer needed more Indians.
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 10:04pm — jugbandDemocrats from North Carolina might as well be Republicans, so who cares? They don't actually do anything differently once they get there.
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open and NC wins
January 26, 2010 - 9:03pm — captainjackAt the rate Obama is moving to the right the Democratic senatorial hopeful will have to be as conservative as Burr or more. Either way NC wins and we return a conservative to the US Senate. It will be a race to see who is most to the right.
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 8:53pm — SaintPinehurstNancy, if you're going to cite PPP you could at least be up-to-date. After all, PPP puts out new polls just about every day. And their latest on the North Carolina Senate race was released just five days ago. I'm surprised you missed it... unless you didn't, and just liked the December number better.
Burr leads a "generic" Democrat by 9 points, not one. And he leads the "named" Democrats by 7-12 points.
And that's from a Democratic polling firm, taken here, in NC, local.
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 8:08pm — brucem1941Good luck to Cunningham first he's in then he's out now he' in. The only quote I have heard from him concerns him dissin Burr for dipping Skoal. Now that represents change we can believe in!
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 6:27pm — marcedward1FORREAGAN, your ignorance is astounding. Republicans love deficit spending far more than Democrats. As usual, you're an idiot.
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 5:58pm — ForReaganLet's see, I could vote for another socialist that will walk in Obie's shadow and kiss is a.s, or I could vote for someone that will say "NO" to more spending. Since it is the people's money that Obie is spending like a shopaholic ex-wife, I think Burr will be the wiser selection.
Of course, the juvenile college socialists on here will run around screaming, like a bunch of little girls, but sometimes the adults just have to say no.
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 5:47pm — cmitchzJes, Mickey Mouse has decided not to run this year.
But expect all of the Disney characters, dead people, illegal aliens and Virginia Beach residents to turn out to vote for the Democrats again this November.
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 4:10pm — marcedward1Let's see, I could vote for Burr's "party of nothing" to take us back to the Bush years, or I could vote for a Democrat and get "pretty much more of Bush's policies"
Wow, what great choices I have. Like going to a restaurant and choosing between salty-poison and sweet-poison
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 3:19pm — jesmyopinionIs Mickey Mouse not available?
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 2:08pm — Hockeydad92Good luck Dems! The tide and coat tails that brought many of you into office this last time will see you out the door the next cycle. Funny how that works, we as a state missed out on a great opportunity when we elected Bev over McCrory but the Obama train was rolling. Now that marxist train has derailed and the true colors of Perdue seem to be about the same shade as Easley , Hunt etc. and we are stuck with corrupt NC politics as usual. The Dems are all giddy about who they can run against Burr but after Brown / Mass maybe it should be who can the Repubs run against Hagan in a few years, and Miller, Butterfield, Etheridge, Price, Shuler, etc. in the house!
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 2:02pm — Kbolton07Don't you think counting chickens in December or January (for that matter) before they're hatched in November is a bit premature?
Polls are only a snapshot in time based on the information likely voters have at the time.
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 1:36pm — domewatcherDo you reckon these Democratic candidates are going to "bash" the Republicans? Or do only Democrats get bashed?
I would remind you that the Democrats control the White House and the Congress. What better way for Obama to move the nation forward?
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 1:30pm — landsharkI'm looking forward to some debate of the issues. If Mr. Burrs plan is to bash the Democrats and not have real plans for the future, then I might as well stay with my party.... At least we're trying something. The Republicans in my mind, nation wide have spent the last year bashing Democrats and their ideas without coming to the table with one serious idea! We're in deep poop, and it's going to take all of us working together to get us out! Period!
Re: Poll: Democratic Senate primary wide open
January 26, 2010 - 12:35pm — nancyncAnother poll worth reading, mid December:
Burr leads former state Senator and Iraq War veteran Cal Cunningham by 45%-36%; he leads attorney Kenneth Lewis by 43%-37%; and he leads Secretary of State Elaine Marshall by 42%-37%. Against a generic Democrat, he has a statistically insignificant edge of only 42%-41%. The margin of error is ±4%.
For all three Democrats, anywhere from 69%-81% of North Carolina voters don't have an opinion of them.
That was a Public Policy Polling, taken here, in NC, local.