Raleigh, N.C. – The federal prosecutor investigating former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley and former Democratic Sen. John Edwards should be left in place until his work is complete say the voters in North Carolina.

A new poll released today by the Civitas Institute shows that 76 percent of voters think the federal prosecutor should be allowed to finish his work before being replaced. Only 11 percent of voters think he should be replaced now and 13 percent said they were not sure. 

“Despite the announcement naming a proposed new U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of N.C. by President Barack Obama, voters in North Carolina overwhelmingly feel that the current U.S. Attorney, George Holding, should be allowed to finish the job,” said Civitas Institute Executive Director Francis De Luca. “Senators Hagan and Burr should note that the voting public takes this corruption investigation seriously and take steps to insure he is allowed to finish his investigation.”

Support for the current U.S. Attorney is universal across political parties: 75 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of Republicans and 84 percent of unaffiliated voters said they are in favor of allowing him to finish the job.

“With widespread public support for allowing the current federal prosecutor to finish the job, the question must be raised why has his replacement been named but replacements for the other two U.S. Attorneys in North Carolina have not?” asked De Luca. 

The Civitas Poll is the only monthly live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. Full results of the poll will be revealed on the Civitas Institute’s Web site at www.nccivitas.org in the coming weeks or join us for our monthly poll luncheon at the Brownstone Hotel in Raleigh on December 10 at 11:45am.

Full text of question:

The current federal prosecutor investigating Governor Mike Easley and former Senator John Edwards was appointed by President Bush.  Often, these prosecutors are replaced when a new president takes office.  Do you think President Obama should replace the current prosecutor now or wait until the investigation is finished?

Replace Now – 11%
Finish the Investigations – 76%
Not Sure – 13%

This poll of 600 likely general election voters in North Carolina was conducted Dec 1-3, 2009 by Tel Opinion Research of Arlington, Virginia. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters we interviewed had to have voted in either the 2004, 2006 or 2008 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2008.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in either the 2004, 2006 or 2008 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2008.