Two polling firms released polls of the KY Senate race between Amy McGrath and Senator Mitch McConnell, and one had to wonder if they were both polling the same race.
Morning Consult – McConnell by 17 points
Earlier this week, Morning Consult released a poll showing McConnell ahead 53% to 36% among likely voters, a 17-point spread. In the same poll, President Trump leads Joe Biden among Kentucky likely voters 59% to 35%, a 24-point spread.
The Morning Consult poll showed 12% of Democrats voting for McConnell, as well as 45% of independents. The polling memo did not break out the makeup of the voters that were polled.
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Quinnipiac – McConnell by 5 points
In contrast, Quinnipiac released a poll on Thursday morning among registered voters showing up only 49% to 44%, with 5% undecided. McConnell gets the votes of Republicans 92 to 6 percent, and Democrats choose McGrath 86 to 11 percent. Independents are fairly evenly divided, with 46% choosing McGrath and 40% choosing McConnell.
Notably, of those polled who could name a candidate, 89% say their minds are made up. But, 25% of those polled say they haven’t heard enough about McGrath to have a favorable or unfavorable opinion.
Other interesting findings in the Quinnipiac poll
- McConnell job performance – 46% approve, 48% disapprove
- Beshear job performance – 63% approve, 34 percent disapprove
- Beshear handling of COVID response – 66% approve, 30% disapprove
- Trump job performance – 49% approve, 47% disapprove
- Trump handling of COVID response – 50% approve, 47% disapprove
- Presidential election – Trump 50%, Biden 41%
- Who voters think would do a better job:
- Handling the economy: Trump 60 percent, Biden 35 percent;
- Handling a crisis: Trump 51 percent, Biden 42 percent;
- Handling health care: Trump 50 percent, Biden 44 percent;
- Handling the response to the coronavirus: Trump 48 percent, Biden 44 percent;
- Addressing racial inequality: Biden 47 percent, Trump 44 percent.
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