The North Carolina Republican Party has begun a major effort to make sure that it is not out-organized like it was during the 2008 election.
It has set up seven regional offices across the state as part of its "North Carolina Victory" program and has made 575,000 telephone calls focusing on independent voters, according to congressman Patrick McHenry, the chairman of the effort.
Heading up the organizational effort is Tim Saler, director of the victory program. Last year, Saler headed the GOP's organizational effort in South Jersey, helping elect Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
The effort is being financed in part by $1.2 million that Sen. Richard Burr raised for the victory committee.
Republicans felt they were swamped by the organizational effort of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008.
Other funding is coming from some of the major corporate figures and companies in the state, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Among the major donors to the committee are: Jim Goodnight of SAS ($24,800); former Glaxo SmithKline executive Robert Ingram and his wife, Jeannie ($29,600); Wilmingtonbusinessman Fred Eshelman ($10,500); Progress Energy PAC ($5,000); GlaxoSmithKline PAC ($5,000); Duke Energy PAC ($5,000); Honeywell International ($5,000); Lorillard Tobacco ($5,000); R.J. Reynolds PAC ($5,000); retired Blue Cross and Blue Shield executive Robert Greczyn ($10,000); former University of North Carolina President C.D. Spangler ($5,000);Raleigh business executive Lanty Smith ($10,000); and Bank of America PAC ($5,000).
BOE re-elects chairman
The State Board of Education has unanimously re-elected Bill Harrison as its chairman and Wayne McDevitt as its vice chairman.
Harrison has led the board for about 18 months, chosen by Gov. Bev Perdue to be chairman and CEO.
He relinquished the CEO title and the job running the state Department of Public Instruction after a successful court challenge by state Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson.
A former school district superintendent, Harrison's term on the board expires in March.
McDevitt, who lives in Marshall, has been a board member since 2001.
Burr leads in new poll
Burr leads his Democratic challenger Elaine Marshall 43 percent to 38 percent in a race in which there has been a sharp drop-off in Democratic interest from two years ago, according to a new poll.
The survey of likely voters by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic leaning firm in Raleigh, has Libertarian candidate Michael Beitler polling at 6percent, with 13 percent of the voters undecided.
The survey found that Burr remains somewhat unpopular with 38 percent approving of the job he's doing and 42 percent disapproving. But the majority of voters, 54 percent, didn't know enough about Marshall to have an opinion.
Burr holds a 20-point lead over Marshall among independent voters, the survey said.
Public Policy Polling surveyed 724 North Carolina voters Aug. 27-29. The survey's margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
An analysis by the polling firm pointed out that this is the first point in the election cycle when Burr is in a better position than Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole was during her unsuccessful 2008 campaign. That was because the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was running TV ads in August attacking Dole. The DSCC has not yet decided whether to help Marshall.
"North Carolina continues to clearly be Democrats' best chance to knock off a Republican incumbent," the report said. "The question is just whether they'll have the money to do it."
By staff writers Rob Christensen and Lynn Bonner
