North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper may be gaining some momentum as the Democratic challenger in next year’s race against Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.

That’s according to a new survey of voters that shows the incumbent ahead by just two points. But the director of Public Policy Polling urges Democrats not to get too excited yet.

PPP director Tom Jensen pointed out the slight shift in the latest polling.

“In our previous two polls of Cooper and McCrory, we had found Pat McCrory up by five-to-seven points,” said Jensen. “And this time we find his lead down to just two points, at 43-41.”

Still, it’s not necessarily a significant bump. Jensen said it could be what he calls “statistical noise.”

“It’s the kind of thing where it would be helpful to see a few more polls over the next few months, to sort of figure out if that’s a real shift, or just something that kind of happened.”

Cooper’s name recognition in the state is only at 55 percent, and that’s also a slow uptick over recent months. Still, as Jensen pointed out, it’s not much, considering he’s been attorney general for 14 years.

“But the good news for Cooper is that, among the voters who are familiar with him, they like him,” said Jensen. “Thirty-four percent have a favorable opinion of him – only 21 percent unfavorable.”

As for the governor, he’s holding steady with 40 percent of voters approving, and 44 percent disapproving of his job performance. Jensen said that’s been the story for about a year now. And while McCrory’s numbers are low, they don’t look so bad compared to the minus-30 polling of his predecessor, Bev Perdue, during much of her term.

“I think when you take it all together, the North Carolina governor’s race for next year, at least from this very early stage, looks like a toss-up,” said Jensen.

The other big North Carolina race will be for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Richard Burr since 2005. His approval numbers are poor as well – according to PPP, 32 percent of voters approve, and 37 percent disapprove.

Jensen said it’s hard to tell at this stage if he’ll face any serious challenges. He leads all potential challengers by six-to-12 points. So far, the list of most-mentioned names includes state Treasurer Janet Cowell; former Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx; Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines; and former U.S. Senator Kay Hagan.

With the exception of Hagan, who’s still smarting from a nasty campaign that ended with her losing to NC House Speaker Thom Tillis last year, none of those names is well-known throughout North Carolina.

And besides, no Democrat has stepped up yet to even issue a challenge.

“When I look at this race, sort of big-picture, I think Burr has about a 75 percent chance of getting re-elected,” said Jensen. “And that 25 percent chance for Democrats is contingent on Hillary Clinton winning the state; and a functional Democratic candidate actually getting in the race.”

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