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McConnell Leads McGrath By 9 Points In New Poll

J. Tyler Franklin

Mitch McConnell holds a nine-point lead over Democratic challenger Amy McGrath in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race, according to a new poll.

McConnell has consistently polled ahead of McGrath throughout the race, though McGrath has significantly outraised and outspent the six-term incumbent.

According to the survey by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy, McConnell is backed by 51% of likely voters in Kentucky, McGrath has 42% while libertarian candidate Brad Barron has 4% and 3% are undecided.

The poll was conducted from Oct. 12 through Oct. 15 and included 625 registered Kentucky voters who were interviewed over the telephone. The margin of error was +/- 4 percentage points.

McGrath leads among voters in the Louisville Metro area 56% to 36%, but McConnell is ahead in four other regions of the state.

McConnell leads in western Kentucky 60% to 34%, eastern Kentucky 58% to 35%, northern Kentucky 55% to 37% and the Lexington area 48% to 45%.

Meanwhile McGrath has a slight lead among women 49% to 47% and McConnell has a significant advantage among men, 55% to 36%.

McConnell is also doing better than McGrath at courting voters from the opposite party.

According to the poll, 29% of registered Democrats polled said they would vote for McConnell, while only 12% of registered Republicans said they would vote for McGrath.

The poll of the senate race comes a day after Mason-Dixon released a poll of thepresidential election in Kentucky, which showed Donald Trump with a 17-percentage point advantage over Joe Biden.

Ryland Barton is the Managing Editor for Collaboratives. He's covered politics and state government for NPR member stations KWBU in Waco and KUT in Austin. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Texas. He grew up in Lexington.

Email Ryland at rbarton@lpm.org.
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