Tillis breaks open Republican primary contest

[octoberlib]

PPP's newest Republican Senate poll finds Thom Tillis breaking away from the pack and in a very strong position to avoid a runoff election: he's at 46% to 20% for Greg Brannon, 11% for Mark Harris, 5% for Heather Grant, 3% for Jim Snyder, 2% for Edward Kryn and Ted Alexander, and 1% for Alex Bradshaw.



Tillis' overwhelming advantage on the airwaves has fueled his momentum in the stretch run of the campaign. 80% of likely primary voters report having seen his ads in the last few weeks, compared to only 28% for Brannon and 27% for Harris. When asked who they've seen the most ads for, 72% say Tillis to only 7% for Brannon and 6% for Harris. His significant resources advantage relative to the rest of the field has finally paid off in a big way.

Tillis is winning over a Republican primary electorate that across the board holds extremely conservative views on key issues:
-Only 33% of GOP primary voters believe in evolution to 58% who do not.

-Only 31% of GOP primary voters think Barack Obama was born in the United States to 52% who continue to fall into the Birther camp.

-Only 29% of GOP primary voters believe that climate change is a fact to 51% who do not.

-Only 27% of GOP primary voters think the US Education Department should continue to exist, compared to 60% who think it should be eliminated.

-Only 25% of GOP primary voters support the federal minimum wage to 57% who do not.

Tillis has had to tack pretty far to the right in order to appeal to the Republican primary electorate that holds these views, and put away his fairly weak field of opponents. It's a situation somewhat reminiscent of what Mitt Romney had to do to nail down the Presidential nomination in 2012, and a lot of the positions he took in his protracted primary contest ended up coming back to bite him in the general election. It will be interesting to see if Tillis faces a similar fate this fall because of the stances he's had to take to survive the primary.

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2014/04/tillis-breaks-open-republican-primary-contest.html

[Triana]

1. Evidently a LOT of stupid in this state. n/t

[FBaggins]

2. Not enough in this case - unfortunately

Keep in mind that the alternatives in the poll were all worse (which in this case would mean "better for Hagan to run against&quot

We were really hoping that Tillis wouldn't make it out of the primary without a runoff. Still a possibility... but fading.

[young_at_heart]

3. Our state continues to slide backwards....stressful!!

What Art Pope and Karl Rove have done to the state is heartbreaking...I feel so very sad!

[octoberlib]

4. Me too! This upcoming election makes me very anxious.