Roy Cooper lidera las encuestas para el Senado en Carolina del Norte

Democrat Roy Cooper has a healthy lead over Republican Michael Whatley in the North Carolina Senate race, according to a new poll.

Half of the 915 respondents to the Carolina Forward survey, conducted by left-leaning Change Research, backed Cooper with less than three months before the general election.

That gave the former two-term North Carolina governor a 7-point edge over Whatley, as the former Republican National Committee chair received support from 43 percent of respondents. Cooper’ s edge was outside the margin of error of 3.5 percent, while 7 percent of respondents were either unsure or said they do not plan on voting in November.

There was a clear partisan split among North Carolinians, as 97 percent of Democrats backed Cooper and 91 percent of Republicans chose Whatley.

But the Democratic nominee held a 28-point advantage among independents — with 48 percent picking Cooper, 20 percent picking Whatley and 32 percent either unsure or not planning on voting.

Cooper also held a 15-point edge among women, a 35-point edge among urban North Carolinians and a 20-point edge among suburban North Carolinians. Whatley, meanwhile, led by 1 point among men and by 20 points among rural voters.

The race between Cooper and Whatley to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (N. C.) is one of six GOP-controlled seats that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N. Y.) and other Democratic lawmakers have their eyes on flipping this November.

The other five seats are held by two other departing GOP lawmakers, Sens. Joni Ernst (Iowa) and John Cornyn (Texas); and three Republicans seeking another term, Sens. Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine) and Jon Husted (Ohio).

Of those six, the North Carolina race is the only one the Cook Political Report rates as leaning Democratic. The election handicapper rates the races in Alaska, Maine and Ohio as “ toss ups.”