North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper

The Democratic pollster PPP takes another look at their home state of North Carolina, and they give Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper a small 45-41 edge in a hypothetical general election with GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. Cooper posted a wide 47-35 lead back in January, and PPP writes, “The movement since then is due to Forest consolidating his support among Republican leaning voters.” However, this survey also finds Cooper with just a 40-41 approval rating, which is down from the 44-35 score he enjoyed earlier this year.

Earlier this week, the GOP firm Harper Polling released a poll for the conservative Civitas Institute that found Cooper leading Forest 47-37, and they gave the governor a strong 53-34 approval rating. It’s hard to get a good sense for how popular Cooper is since there’s been so little other polling out of the Tar Heel State this year, though Morning Consult gave him a 49-28 score in the first quarter of the year.

Forest formed an exploratory committee earlier this year (he has yet to announce he’s running), and so far, no other notable Republicans have entered the race. However, PPP’s memo says that state Rep. Holly Grange is “widely expected” to run. Grange doesn’t appear to have said anything publicly about her interest, but back in late April, Alexander Jones of the local politics blog PoliticsNC wrote that there were rumors that GOP Sen. Thom Tillis’s team was trying to recruit her to oppose Forest.

Jones described Grange, who represents the New Hanover area and currently serves as deputy conference chair, as an “[u]rban-suburban, female, an attorney with fifteen years of military experience,” which he called “the kind of candidate who gets elected governor in North Carolina.” Last year Grange won re-election 53-47 in a seat Trump carried 56-41 two years before.

PPP also tested Cooper against the GOP’s two legislative leaders, state House Speaker Tim Moore and state Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, and finds him leading 46-38 and 46-39, respectively. Neither man has shown any obvious interest in running for governor.

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