THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996 TAG: 9605050048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Robin Hayes and Richard Vinroot are running neck-and-neck in their bid for the Republican nomination for governor, according to a recent poll.
Hayes, a state representative from Concord, has closed a significant gap since February to overtake Vinroot, the former Charlotte mayor.
A telephone survey of 829 registered North Carolina voters showed Hayes with a 38 percent to 35 percent lead, with 23 percent still undecided. In February, Vinroot had led Hayes, 33 percent to 9 percent.
The poll's overall margin for error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, but is higher on GOP primary issues. That means the race could easily tilt either way.
``While this race is still very close, Hayes clearly has established momentum,'' Del Ali of Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research Inc., which conducted the poll last week, said in a news release. ``Hayes' surge is, in part, the result of the strong backing he has picked up among Republicans who consider themselves supporters of the Christian Coalition.''
Among Christian conservatives, who make up a third of the Republican electorate, Hayes holds a 51 percent to 22 percent advantage over Vinroot, according to the poll.
Either candidate will face a tough fight to unseat Democratic Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. in November, the poll shows.
Hunt would beat Hayes by a 49 percent to 29 percent margin if the election were held today, according to the survey. The results of a Hunt-Vinroot election would be roughly the same, with 50 percent choosing Hunt and 32 percent supporting Vinroot.
Hunt is better known and better liked than both Republican hopefuls, the survey shows. The governor has a 45 percent favorable rating and was recognized by nearly all voters surveyed. Hunt's unfavorable rating was 29 percent, one of his highest reported this decade.
Vinroot holds a 28 percent favorable rating, and Hayes 26 percent. Both men's names were recognized by nearly three out of four people surveyed.
The poll shows that the other two candidates for the Republican nomination, Art Manning and Ken Rogers, are longshots. Both are recognized by only about a third of voters surveyed.
Hunt finds his strongest support in the state's Northeast, which includes all counties in the Albemarle.
About 57 percent of those surveyed in 28 northeastern counties would support Hunt over Vinroot, and about 56 percent would support him against Hayes. Those percentages are higher than in any other region.
KEYWORDS: POLLS ELECTION NORTH CAROLINA CANDIDATES by CNB