House Republicans might have been on to something when they started funneling cash into North Carolina’s 7th Congressional District recently. A new poll from Survey USA has their candidate, Marine and businessman Ilario Pantano, leading Rep. Mike McIntyre, D, 46 to 45 percent among registered voters.

I’m not so sure about some of the poll’s strange results (for example, Pantano splits the black vote evenly with McIntyre), but it still looks like it’s a real contest, at least. As in many other parts of the country today, the Republican leads among independents nearly two-to-one.