McCrory still popular, but not so much for guv's race?

Public Policy Polling has detected a seemingly contradictory popularity finding in Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory's departure. He's still popular. But Charlotte voters don't find him so popular that they want him to run for governor again.

McCrory, a Republican who never lost a bid for mayor of Charlotte, was narrowly defeated in Mecklenburg County by Democrat Bev Perdue in the 2008 race for governor and is evidently thinking about another run in 2012.

Tom Jensen, PPP's chief analyst, has this to say about the findings:

Pat McCrory is leaving office as Mayor of Charlotte with his popularity intact. But that doesn't mean voters in the city are yearning for him to run for Governor again.
McCrory's final approval rating is 59%, with only 26% disapproving. He has the approval of 81% of Republicans and 62% of independents and his 39% approval rating with Charlotte Democrats is actually better than Bev Perdue's 38% approval with Democrats statewide in our most recent poll.
Despite his good overall numbers only 51% of voters in the city want him to challenge Perdue again in 2012, with 40% opposed.
The party breakdown on those numbers speaks to the trouble McCrory had with voters in the city last fall. Most Republicans who like the job he's doing want him to run again- but only 46% of independents would like to see him make a bid despite his 62% approval with them and just 27% of Democrats want him to even though 39% think he's a good Mayor.
McCrory's popularity as Mayor didn't translate to support for Governor in 2008 at the sort of level that he needed, and it looks like he might continue to be plagued by that problem with a repeat bid in 2012. Given the strong unhappiness many Charlotte residents express with their treatment by the rest of the state this is somewhat curious, but for most voters in the city party still trumps province.
This analysis is also available on our blog:
http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2009/11/mixed-messages-on-mccrory.html