Story originally posted April 11, 2014, 3:08 p.m.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory remains unpopular in the state, according to a new poll released by Public Policy Polling in Raleigh.

Director Tom Jensen of PPP broke down some of the new numbers for WCHL.

“This is the 10th month in a row now that we found Pat McCrory with a negative approval rating,” he says. “Only 40 percent of voters approve of the job he’s doing. Forty-five percent disapprove.”

According to Jensen and PPP, McCrory’s presumed top challenger for a 2016 race still has some work to do when it comes to building name recognition.

“It’s already pretty clear that Attorney General Roy Cooper is going to be challenging him for re-election in 2016,” says Jensen. “We find the two of them tied at 43 percent.”

Jensen added that Cooper is still unknown to 50 percent of voters in the state. But among those who do know him, he polls favorably, at 33 percent positive, and 17 percent unfavorable.

Another possible Democratic challenger, former Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, is even less recognizable to voters.

“Charles Meeker has been traveling around parts of the state, outside the Triangle, having meetings with local Democratic elected officials, and that sort of thing” says Jensen, “to start to build up some visibility as he, at least, thinks about making a campaign in 2016.”

PPP numbers show that McCrory would beat former Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker 45-to-38 in a head-to-head race.

Right now, Meeker is only known to 28 percent of North Carolina voters.

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