Hayes 45, Kissell 43

Saw this on Daily Kos:

Anzalone Liszt (D). 5/22. No trend lines.

Hayes (R) 45
Kissell (D) 43

Name ID

Hayes (R) 83%
Kissell (D) 34%

Bush approval rating

Approve 38
Disapprove 61

Some more findings from that poll, which I received via email (I don't know if it's posted anywhere online):

Hayes continues to be hurt by the harsh political environment still facing national Republicans. A majority (57%) of voters believe the country is moving in the wrong direction, while only 21% believe it is moving in the right direction.

A majority (56%) now believe we should not have gone to war, while 57% favor a plan to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq this year and having almost all the troops out by next year.

Talking to last cycle's DCCC crowd, this race, more than any other, makes them kick themselves. They swear up and down that late polling in the race (two separate polls) showed Hayes with a comfortable double-digit lead over Kissell so they looked elsewhere for pickup opportunities. And while they found plenty of them (it was a bumper crop), Kissell came just 329 votes shy of victory -- the tightest race and most painful House loss of the cycle.

Kissell ran easily the most innovative race of last cycle, and came close to this victory despite being outspent $2.4M to $781K.

This cycle is a little different. The DCCC clearly has targeted this seat and will focus resources on it (though hopefully won't touch Kissell's innovative campaign team). On the other hand, Hayes can't laugh off his opponent and take it easy. He'll be taking this race seriously, which should make Kissell's task that much tougher.

And now an update on BlueNC too.