With an 8-percentage point increase in the disapproval rating of U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., experts say she’ll need to prepare for a tough campaign in the coming election season.
A recent Elon University poll found that Hagan has seen a steady decline in her public approval rating in the last couple of months.
“The poll does not suggest she is entering the campaign season with a definite hold of her seat,” said Jason Husser, assistant director of the poll.
Hagan’s approval rating began to drop with the public failures associated with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act and the online insurance marketplace earlier this fall, said Mitch Kokai, political analyst at the conservative John Locke Foundation.
Husser said Hagan’s support of the health care legislation might not be the only reason for her decline in public approval — the N.C. GOP has created a negative ad campaign against Hagan, and her team has yet to respond.
“There is strong video evidence of Kay Hagan out on the campaign trail saying the same thing the president said to the rest of the American public: that if they like their insurance policies, they will be able to keep them,” he said. “The Republican Party has strung together multiple scenarios where this happened, and it has taken a hard hit in Hagan’s camp.”
Five GOP candidates have officially declared that they’ll run for Hagan’s seat, and Husser said the current favorite for the May primary election is N.C. Speaker of the House Thom Tillis.
“But the silver lining is that the Republican opposition in the Senate primary race isn’t too evolved as of yet,” he said.
Micah Beasley, spokesman for the N.C. Democratic Party, said this poll will be one of many public opinion measures focusing on the Senate race, and it’s not indicative of a final outcome.
