McConnell holds 12-point lead over Democratic challenger McGrath: poll

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) holds a 12-point lead over his Democratic challenger, Amy McGrath, less than 50 days out from Election Day, according to a Quinnipiac University survey released on Wednesday.

Fifty-three percent of likely Kentucky voters backed McConnell in the poll, while 41 percent did the same for McGrath. Additionally, 91 percent of likely voters who selected a candidate in the poll said their minds were made up. Nine percent said they may change their minds ahead of the election. 

A Quinnipiac survey released last month showed McConnell leading McGrath by 5 points. 

However, the most recent survey showed likely voters in the commonwealth having mixed opinions of McConnell. Forty-four percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of him, while 46 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion. Meanwhile, 34 percent said they had a favorable view of McGrath, and 47 said they had an unfavorable opinion. 

McConnell, 78, is running for his seventh term in the upper chamber, where he’s been the Republican leader since 2007 and the majority leader since 2015.

His status has made him a prime target for Democrats, who lined up behind McGrath after she narrowly lost to incumbent Republican Rep. Andy Barr in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District. 

McConnell is underperforming President Trump in Kentucky. Trump leads Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden 58 to 38 percent in the commonwealth, which he won by roughly 30 points four years ago. 

The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted from Sept. 10 to Sept. 14 among 1,164 self-identified likely voters. The margin of error is 2.9 percentage points.