January Democratic Tracking Poll: Governor

Bev Perdue 41
Richard Moore 25
Dennis Nielsen 2

Perdue matches the biggest lead she's had in any publicly released polling that's been conducted since she entered the race. What's interesting about the results is that while Perdue is at the same 41% figure she was last month, Moore dropped from 32 to 25.

What that indicates is that her attacks on Richard Moore are working. They're not increasing her level of support, but they are creating doubt in the electorate's mind about Moore. I think tying Moore to the Randy Parton Roanoke Rapids fiasco was effective because it's an issue that resonates with the public at large more than the other salvos they've been lobbing at each other. Everyone knows that Parton got fired because he got drunk and wasted a lot of taxpayer money. I doubt that many voters actually understand what the connection between Moore and the incident is, but that's not necessarily the Perdue campaign's objective. The objective is to get voters to think Richard Moore when they think Randy Parton, and this shift in the numbers over the last five weeks is an indication that may be working.

Full results here.