Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) job approval rating is almost the same as President Barack Obama’s in Kentucky, a new poll found.
The Herald-Leader/WKYT Bluegross poll released Thursday evening found 32 percent of those surveyed said they approve of McConnell’s job performance while 60 percent said they disapproved of the job the top Senate Republican has done. That rating is almost the same as Obama’s approval rating in the state, which is 34 percent and his disapproval is about 60 percent.
What’s more, the poll found Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) holds a small 4-point lead over McConnell in the Kentucky Senate race. The poll found Grimes with 46 percent support among Kentucky voters while McConnell has 42 percent support. That finding though is essentially within the poll’s plus or minus 3-point margin of error.
The silver lining for McConnell is that he holds a solid double-digit lead in the GOP primary against challenger Matt Bevin. The poll found McConnell with 55 percent support in the Republican primary while Bevin has 29 percent support. That finding had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 points.
The poll’s findings are yet another sign that the GOP primary is fast becoming a lock for McConnell as he looks to face a tight re-election fight against Grimes.
The poll was conducted by SurveyUSA with The Kentucky Courier-Journal and WHAS-TV. The poll surveyed 1,082 Kentucky voters through automated phone calls and cell phone interviews. Four hundred and four registered Republicans were surveyed for the question on the GOP primary.
