PPP: Foxx is GOP favorite for Senate

Rep. Virginia Foxx leads when Republicans are asked who they would like to see challenge Sen. Kay Hagan in 2014.

Posted 6:31 p.m. Dec 11, 2012 — Updated 8:53 p.m. Dec 11, 2012

Mark Binker

RALEIGH, N.C. — Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning pollster, says North Carolina Republicans would like to see 5th District Congresswoman Virginia Foxx run for U.S. Senate in 2014.

"Foxx is at the head of the line because of her appeal to the 'very conservative' wing of the party. 21 percent of those voters prefer her to 17 percent for Myrick and 12 percent for McHenry. She has very strong support in the Triad. Moderate voters prefer McHenry with 14 percent picking him to 12 percent for Foxx and 10 percent for Myrick. He has strong support in the western part of the state," writes PPP's Tom Jensen.

Foxx, 68, has not been among the names commonly floated as potential contenders -- Tillis and McHenry have made some of those lists -- and she may find her record hard to outrun. The outspoken former college administrator repeatedly makes headlines for controversial remarks.

Jensen describes the numbers as "humiliating" for Tillis, who has never said he is running for the seat and has repeatedly brushed aside questions about a potential run. However, Tillis has held town hall meetings across the state and has said he won't run for a third term as the state's House speaker. "Yet he actually has a negative favorability rating among GOP primary voters- 12/17- and ranks in last place among everyone we tested at 2%. Certainly it is very early but his efforts so far haven't made much of an impact," Jensen writes.

As for Hagan herself, PPP found she has "a 44 percent approval rating, with 43 percent of voters disapproving of her. That close division over her job performance mirrors what we've seen for her pretty much since she took office, and it also mirrors what we saw for Richard Burr at this time four years ago."

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