A new independent poll from North Carolina shows that the Mike Huckabee surge that has taken hold in Iowa has expanded to the Southern coastal states. Previous public polling from North Carolina had indicated a lead for Fred Dalton Thompson, a former US Senator from neighboring Tennessee.

Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, is now favored by 33% of likely North Carolina Republican Party presidential primary voters polled by Public Policy Polling.

Here are the results:

Huckabee:  33%

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani:  17%

Thompson:  16%

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney:  9%

US Senator John McCain of Arizona:  8%

PPP surveyed 612 likely Republican primary voters on December 3rd. The survey has a

margin of error of ± 3.9%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and

weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.