All Entries in the "Polling" Category
New poll shows Clinton and Calipari popular in Kentucky
By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com
FRANKFORT – Democrat Hillary Clinton would fare better in Kentucky in the 2016 presidential election than the state’s junior senator, Republican Rand Paul, a new poll says.
The poll also says University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari has a higher favorability rating in the state than does his counterpart at the University of Louisville, Rick Pitino.
Earlier this week, the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling also said Republican Mitch McConnell of Louisville is the most unpopular U.S. senator in the country but leads all Democrats who have been mentioned as possible opposition against him in his 2014 re-election effort.
The poll Wednesday showed that Clinton, who now is the U.S. secretary of state, would be a formidable candidate for president in 2016 in a state where the Republican nominee has captured at least 50 percent of the vote in the last four presidential elections.
The poll showed Clinton with a 48 percent favorability rating with Kentucky voters, compared to 38 percent for President Barack Obama.
Second poll shows Beshear with double-digit lead over Williams
By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com
FRANKFORT — A second poll released this week shows Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear with a more than 20-point lead over Republican challenger David Williams.
Insight’s CN|2 poll, conducted by Braun Research, showed Beshear and running mate Jerry Abramson with 53.4 percent of the vote, compared to 25.3 percent for Williams and running mate Richie Farmer.
The independent slate of Lexington lawyer Gatewood Galbraith and marketing executive Dea Riley garnered about 7.2 percent of the vote.
Earlier this week, Public Policy Polling released numbers that showed Beshear witha 27-point lead over Williams.
Paul widens lead over Conway in two new polls
Two new polls released Thursday show Republican Rand Paul widening his lead over Democrat Jack Conway in their race for the U.S. Senate.
In the latest Courier-Journal/WHAS11 Bluegrass Poll, Paul holds a 9-percentage-point lead over Conway, 52 to 43, before next Tuesday’s election.
Paul held a two-point edge, 52-43, in the poll last month.
In a CN|2 Poll by Insight Communications, Paul led Conway, 46.5 percent to 39 percent, with about 13 percent undecided.
That was an increase of three points for Paul from a poll CN|2 took three weeks ago.
–Jack Brammer
CNN/Time Poll shows Paul up 7 points over Conway among likely voters
A new CNN/Time Poll released Thursday shows 50 percent of likely voters in Kentucky support Republican nominee Rand Paul while 43 percent back Democratic nominee Jack Conway in their U.S. Senate race.
The race is much tighter among the larger pool of registered voters in the poll, with Paul holding only a 2-point advantage, 46 to 44 percent.
The telephone poll was conducted Oct. 20-26 with 1,336 registered voters, including 785 likely voters. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for registered voters and 3.5 percentage points for likely voters.
The media poll said Paul’s lead can be explained in part through a significant gender gap.
Kentucky Poll: Slim majority approve of Sen. McConnell’s job performance
By Jack Brammer and Bill Estep – jbrammer@herald-leader.com
A slim majority of likely voters in Kentucky approve of Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s job performance, a new Kentucky Poll shows.
Fifty-two percent of respondents said they approve of the job McConnell has done in the Senate, where he has served since 1985 and led the GOP caucus since November 2006. Thirty-seven percent disapproved and 11 percent were not sure.
The job performance numbers for McConnell are good but not great, said national political analyst Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Kentucky Poll: Voters focused on the economy
By Bill Estep – bestep@herald-leader.com
Far and away, the biggest issue facing the state is the economy, according to this week’s Kentucky Poll.
Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said the economy was the single most important issue to them. No other issue reached double digits; the closest was education, at 9 percent.
It’s not hard to see why. Economic indicators show the recession is over, but businesses haven’t done enough hiring yet to drive down a stubborn 9.6 percent national unemployment rate.
Kentucky poll graphic 300×271
In Kentucky, the preliminary unemployment rate for September actually edged up to 10.1 percent from the revised August level of 10 percent, the state Office of Employment and Training announced this week.
People are clearly worried about the job picture.
“They either lost their job, they know somebody who lost their job, they haven’t had a pay increase in a couple of years,” said Don Gross, a political-science professor at the University of Kentucky. “It’s hard to feel real comfortable about the economy right now.”
Kentucky Poll: Ben Chandler locked in tight battle with Andy Barr
By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com
U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, is barely clinging to his House seat as the Nov. 2 election approaches, a new Kentucky Poll shows.
Forty-eight percent of likely voters surveyed in Central Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District said they would vote for Chandler, compared to 44 percent for Andy Barr, his Republican challenger. Eight percent were undecided.
Chandler’s four-point lead is within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Chandler also should worry about other numbers in the poll, said J. Brad Coker of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington, D.C., which conducted a district-wide telephone survey of 500 registered voters Oct. 15 to 19 for the Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV.
Kentucky Poll: Lexington mayor’s race too close to call
By Andy Mead – amead@herald-leader.com
Vice Mayor Jim Gray appears to have a slim advantage over incumbent Mayor Jim Newberry in the race for Lexington’s top job, a new Kentucky Poll shows.
It is the first time an independent poll has shown the challenger out front in the non-partisan contest, although Gray’s four-point lead is within the poll’s margin of error.
Among likely voters, Gray leads Newberry 44 percent to 40 percent, with 16 percent undecided. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Gray trailed Newberry in the May primary, getting 37.5 percent of the vote to Newberry’s 43.7 percent. Former Mayor Teresa Isaac, who received 16.6 percent in the primary and didn’t move forward to the general election, endorsed Gray two days before the poll began.
The live telephone survey of 500 likely Fayette County voters was conducted from Oct. 15 through Oct. 19 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington D.C. It was commissioned by the Lexington Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV.
Kentucky Poll: Attitudes about Obama, health care and spending favor Rand Paul
By Bill Estep – bestep@herald-leader.com
Kentuckians’ attitudes on three key issues — President Barack Obama, health care reform and government spending — tilt Republican Rand Paul’s way in the U.S. Senate race, according to a new Kentucky Poll.
The central tactic of Paul’s campaign has been to link his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Jack Conway, to Obama, and the numbers bear out the political wisdom of that move.
More than half — 56 percent — of likely voters in the statewide poll said they disapprove of Obama’s performance as president. Only 38 percent said they approve of the job the president is doing, while 6 percent said they weren’t sure.
One key reason is the Democratic president is simply more liberal than many voters in Kentucky, said political observers and people contacted in the poll.
Kentucky Poll: Rand Paul leads Jack Conway by 5 points
By Jack Brammer and Bill Estep – jbrammer@herald-leader.com
With less than two weeks to go before the Nov. 2 election, Republican Rand Paul holds a slim lead over Democrat Jack Conway in their race for the U.S. Senate, a new Kentucky Poll shows.
Paul, a favorite of the Tea Party movement whose campaign has focused on limited government, holds a 5 point lead over Conway among likely voters — 48 percent to 43 percent, with 9 percent undecided.
“That’s not a great majority of a lead for Paul but I believe it’s almost impossible for a conservative Republican to lose in Kentucky this year,” said national political analyst Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
The telephone survey of 625 likely Kentucky voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. It was conducted on Monday and Tuesday of this week by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington, D.C. on behalf of the Lexington Herald-Leader, WKYT-TV in Lexington and WAVE-TV in Louisville.
Other political observers said the relatively high level of undecided voters in the poll underscores the fluidity of the race.
-
- Judge denies Beshear's motion to dismiss Tea Party lawsuit
- Grimes says Democrats united in U.S. Senate race but doesn't reveal her plans
- Chandler accepts second job in addition to director of state Humanities Council
- Contract for wildlife chief caps pay at $218K
- Heather French Henry says she's being encouraged to run for Senate
- Richie Farmer's sister resigns state job
