THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607260444
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: By MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 42 lines
Democratic Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. is coasting comfortably toward re-election in November.
His opponent, state Rep. Robin Hayes, the Cannon textile heir, is gaining strength, however, and has no reason to toss in the towel, a political poll showed Thursday.
``Due to his low, unfavorable name recognition, Hayes remains quite viable if he can avoid mistakes and also manage to put Hunt on the defensive,'' said Brad Coker, an analyst for Mason-Dixon media research which conducted the poll for The Virginian-Pilot.
Hayes, a GOP state representative from Cabarrus County, is 51 years old and the governor is 59.
In February, Hunt's lead was 51 percent to 22 percent. The latest poll shows Hunt leading Hayes 52 percent to 35 percent.
``The two rivals are currently splitting the white vote, 43 percent to 42 percent. But Hunt builds his comfortable margin on his 88 percent-to-6 percent advantage among blacks,'' Coker said.
However, Hunt is capturing a larger share of the Republican vote - 20 percent - than is Hayes, who rates 18 percent, the poll showed.
Coker said Hunt remains better known than Hayes and has retained immense popularity among voters since his first foray into politics as a newly elected Democratic lieutenant governor in 1973.
Hunt retains his popularity in northeastern North Carolina, where the governor has his greatest regional support: 57 percent. Hayes has his greatest support in the Greensboro/Winston Salem area. Forty-three percent of the voters support him in that section of the state, according to the poll.
Hunt had the support of 55 percent of the women polled, while 49 percent of the men support the incumbent, according to the survey.
The poll canvassed 812 registered voters in North Carolina between July 18 and July 20. Men numbered 399 in the sampling and women 413. There were 641 whites and 169 blacks interviewed.
There is a 95 percent likelihood that an error in the poll would be no more than 3.5 percent if the entire population were sampled, Coker said.
``This race still has the potential to tighten up,'' Coker added. by CNB