(RALEIGH) -- A new poll from Public Policy Polling represents a milestone for former Senator John Edwards--though it's not something to be proud of. Spokesman Tom Jensen says Edwards' approval numbers have sunk to historic lows.

"We asked North Carolinians last weekend what they thought about Edwards: nine percent said they have a favorable opinion of him, 81 percent with a negative one. But that doesn't quite make him the most unpopular person we've ever polled. That would be former Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich."

While 81 percent of respondents surveyed were found to have a negative opinion of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, a smaller percentage actually think he is guilty of the crimes he's charged with. About that, Jensen says, "Fifty-two percent of voters in the state think he's guilty.  Sixteen percent think he's innocent, and 32 percent aren't sure. So, when you seen  81 percent [of North Carolinians polled responding] with a negative opinion, but only 52 percent thinking he's guilty, that's a lot of folks saying, 'ya know, we definitely think Edwards is a jerk.  But is he a criminal?  Maybe not'."

Still, a majority of voters think Edwards is guilty right off the bat, and Jensen says, "that is going to make jury selection pretty difficult, when so many people already have their mind's made up."

And while former Senator John Edwards is the second-most unpopular politician of whom Public Policy Polling has ever conducted a survey on, Tom Jensen says Edwards' fall from grace is almost unprecedented.

"We've definitely never seen a former presidential candidate with numbers this bad. It's hard to find somebody whose political stock has ever dropped as much in a period of just a few years as John Edwards. The only person who's even remotely close, right now, is Newt Gingrich."

Former North Carolina senator and two-time presidential candidate John Edwards was indicted June 3, 2011, on six felony counts including: conspiracy, four counts of illegal campaign contributions and one count of false statements. The charges came two years after a federal grand jury first opened a criminal investigation looking into whether Edwards used hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy campaign contributors to hide his pregnant mistress, Reille Hunter, in hiding during the 2008 campaign.