Republican Richard Burr is gaining ground in the race to replace John Edwards as North Carolina's next U.S. Senator.

The latest Rasmussen Reports survey shows Burr with 49% of the vote and Democrat Erskine Bowles with 45%. Burr leads by nine points among men and the candidates are tied among women.

The survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted Monday, October 20, 2004. Our previous survey, conducted two weeks earlier found Burr leading by just two percentage points, 47% to 45%.

Just 47% of North Carolina voters now have a favorable opinion of Bowles. That's down from 53% in the earlier survey. Fifty-four percent (54%) have a favorable opinion of Burr, unchanged over the past two weeks.

During the summer, most polls showed Bowles with a double-digit lead. In the fall, Burr's advertising campaign highlighted Bowles' working relationship with former President Bill Clinton.

Our Senate Overview shows that prospects for Republicans to retain control of the U.S. Senate have improved in the past couple of weeks. Still, in addition to the Burr-Bowles match-up, there are close races in South Dakota, Colorado, Oklahoma, Alaska, South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana.

Democrats are likely to pick up a Republican seat in Illinois. Republicans are likely to pick up a Democratic seat in Georgia.

Rasmussen Reports has recently released state Presidential election polls for Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, Washington, Virginia, and Wisconsin.