Eyewitness News Poll Shows Tight Races, Economy On Voters’ Minds

A new poll done exclusively for Eyewitness News shows dead heats in three major North Carolina races.

Democrat Kay Hagan holds a slight lead over incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole in the Senate race.

Democrat Bev Perdue has a 3.4-point advantage over her Republican challenger, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, for the governorship.

And in the race for president, Republican Sen. John McCain leads Democratic Sen. Barack Obama by less than two points.

Experts said the tight presidential race will put the spotlight on North Carolina.

"A lot more attention is going to be paid to North Carolina," said political scientist Michael Bitzer. "We're going to see a lot more negative ads. We're going to see a lot more people come back. We've seen Palin, Obama and Biden. I wouldn’t be surprised if Senator McCain came back."

Forty-four percent of voters polled said the economy was the No. 1 issue for them in this election.

PDF: Eyewitness News Voting Poll