Poll: Male voters give Burr commanding lead in Senate race

SurveyUSA polled 560 likely voters statewide Thursday through Sunday and found that, if the election were held now, Burr would garner 46 percent of the vote to Marshall's 36 percent. Seventeen percent of respondents were undecided.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

While female voters are evenly split between the candidates, Burr holds a 52 to 31 percent advantage among male voters, according to the poll. Burr also leads among all age groups and education levels polled, as well as voters in the Charlotte, Greensboro and eastern North Carolina areas. The Triangle is a dead heat between the candidates.

Burr has a favorable image among 28 percent of the 858 registered voters polled, while 27 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of him. Marshall fared slightly better, with a 25 percent favorable rating but only a 12 percent unfavorable rating.

Respondents also gave President Barack Obama a 36 percent favorable rating, with 45 percent saying they view him unfavorably. Gov. Beverly Perdue scored even worse in the poll, with 23 percent having a favorable opinion and 40 percent unfavorable.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's favorable rating was 22 percent among those polled, while her unfavorable rating was 28 percent.

More than half of those polled said they believe North Carolina is off-track, while 31 percent said they believe the state is headed in the right direction.