NC Senate 2010: Cooper leads Burr

Richard Burr Approval:

Approve 32
Disapprove 31
Not Sure 37

Roy Cooper Approval:

Approve 44
Disapprove 23
Not Sure 34

Head to Head:

Cooper 39
Burr 34

If Attorney General Roy Cooper decides to run for the Senate in 2010, you can put Richard Burr's name right to the top of the list of endangered incumbents nationally.

Cooper leads Burr by five points in a hypothetical pairing. He also has a similarly high profile to Burr, with only 34% of voters in the state having no opinion about his job performance, compared to 37% who are ambivalent about Burr. It is quite unusual for a lower ranking state official to start out with similar name recognition to a US Senator.

Cooper is also much more popular with a 21 point net positive approval rating, compared to Burr for whom it is only a single point.

Cooper has considerably more appeal across party lines than the incumbent. While Burr's approval among Democrats is -30, Cooper's with Republicans is only -6.

To put into perspective just how good this early standing is for Cooper, keep in mind that when PPP first tested Senator-elect Kay Hagan against Elizabeth Dole during the summer of 2007, Dole led Hagan by 16 points. Of course that number can also serve as a warning to any Democrat who runs against Burr- things can change fast in politics.

We'll break this poll down further in the coming days. Full results here.