A poll released on Monday suggests Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear remains the most popular Democratic governor in the country, despite leading a red state.
The survey shows the incumbent with support from roughly half of the state’s Republicans, four months out from election day.
Morning Consult gives Beshear the highest approval rating of any Democratic governor in the nation, and the fifth most popular among both major parties. The research firm has a B- pollster rating from FiveThirtyEight.
According to the survey, conducted Apr. 1-June 30, Beshear’s approval rating now stands at 64%, his highest since Jan. 2021. Beshear also has the best approval rating among GOP voters compared with other Democratic governors, with some 49% of Kentucky Republicans pleased with his job performance.
Beshear’s re-election is being challenged by Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
A poll released last week by Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican-leaning firm, showed Cameron trailing Beshear by ten points. That poll was commissioned by the Prichard Committee, an education-centered nonprofit in Kentucky. The same day those poll results were released, the Republican State Leadership Committee commissioned another survey by Public Opinion Strategies still giving Beshear the lead, but showing the race has tightened since June.
"We feel confident that as voters learn more about Andy Beshear’s liberal record, they will see Daniel Cameron as a better alternative to lead Kentucky in a new direction," campaign spokeswoman Courtney Norris said in an email to WKU Public Radio.
The general election is Nov. 7.
