A private polling firm based in North Carolina has released its latest results for Kentucky's hotly-contested senate race and a wide-open governor's race in 2015.
The poll from Public Policy Polling has Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell leading Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes. McConnell leads Grimes and Libertarian David Patterson by a margin of 44/40/7 with 9 percent undecided. Both major party candidates in this race face negative ratings; McConnell’s approval rating is only 37 percent while 54 percent disapprove of his job performance. Grimes' rating is at 45 percent disapproval and 41 percent approval.
The bright spot for Grimes in addition to the fact that the race is so close is that she leads among women in the state. Grimes has a net favorable rating among women at 44/40 and leads among women by one point 42/41.
“Mitch McConnell’s starting to see Republican voters unify around him a little bit more,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. “That’s allowed him to regain a small lead although the race remains very competitive overall.”
Meantime, in the 2015 race for governor, Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway leads each of his likely Republican challengers; Cathy Bailey, Matt Bevin, James Comer and Hal Heiner. Conway leads Bevin and Comer each by three points; 39/36 and 38/35, respectively. Conway leads Bailey and Heiner by wider margins; he leads Bailey 42/30 and Heiner 39/32.
For the full story, visit Public Policy Polling online.
