KENTUCKY — A new poll of Kentucky voters shows support for Gov. Andy Beshear is on the rise and places Sen. Rand Paul comfortably ahead of Charles Booker in the U.S. Senate race.


What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Andy Beshear's approval rating is on the rise, according to a new poll of Kentucky voters

  • The Mason-Dixon poll surveyed a small sample of randomly selected voters

  • Gov. Beshear’s job approval rating landed at 60%, a jump from 55% last February

  • Charles Booker is trailing Republican Rand Paul in the U.S. Senate race, with just 39% of those surveyed choosing the Democratic challenger

The Mason-Dixon poll surveyed 625 registered Kentucky voters by phone. Pollsters interviewed the randomly selected voters from Jan. 19-22.

Gov. Beshear’s job approval rating landed at 60%, a jump from 55% last February. The Democratic governor’s strongest support comes from Louisville and Lexington, while he’s received less favorably in western Kentucky.

Women are bigger fans of him than men, and the poll found he has a 61% approval rating among independents.

As for the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Republican Rand Paul has a comfortable 55% - 39% lead over Charles Booker, the former state representative and front-runner for the Democratic nomination.

The poll found Booker had just 51% support in his hometown of Louisville, and over one in five Democrats surveyed said they’d vote for Paul.

Half of Kentucky independents surveyed favored Paul, and 6% of respondents were undecided.

Pollsters assigned quotas to reflect voter registration by county.

Though the margin of error is +/-4%, the results show a likely uphill climb for Booker to pull off the upset this November.