The new survey of Kentucky by Public Policy Polling (D) gives Rand Paul, a conservative activist and son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), a huge lead over the establishment candidate in the Republican primary for Senate in 2010.
The numbers: Rand Paul 44%, Secretary of State Trey Grayson 25%. Grayson was recruited to run in place of two-term GOP Sen. Jim Bunning, who is retiring. Paul, however, has mobilized his campaign around the Tea Party movement and his outsider conservative message.
From the pollster’s analysis: “Paul is winning the votes of conservatives by a 47-20 margin, while Grayson holds a 36-34 lead with moderates. Paul is having a particularly good amount of success with folks who think that the Republican Party in Washington has become too liberal — his lead with them is 54-18.”
The Democratic primary is a tight race with state Attorney General Jack Conway at 37%, and Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo at 33%, within the ±4.2% margin of error.
