Senate

McConnell has 17-point lead over Democratic challenger McGrath: poll

by Alexander Bolton - 08/04/20 10:08 AM ET

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is leading his Democratic opponent, Amy McGrath, by a commanding 17 points in a new poll that shows the GOP leader ahead 53 percent to 36 percent.

Eighty-four percent of Republicans polled by Morning Consult said they support McConnell, while 79 percent of Democrats said they back McGrath. Twelve percent of Democrats said they also support McConnell.

The GOP leader also has more support among independents than McGrath, with 45 percent backing McConnell and 33 percent favoring McGrath.

The survey of 700 likely voters in Kentucky, reported on by the Louisville Courier Journal, was conducted online from July 24 to Aug. 2 and had a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

The poll shows McConnell in a much stronger position than a Democratic one published last month by Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group showing McConnell ahead of McGrath by only 4 points, 45 percent to 41 percent.

A Civiqs poll from June showed McConnell leading McGrath 53 percent to 33 percent.

McGrath has been a fundraising magnet, bringing in $16.9 million in 2019 and $30.2 million so far this year in a bid to deny McConnell from winning a seventh Senate term.

McConnell, by comparison, has raised $37.7 million for his reelection since winning his last race against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes in 2014.

McConnell has touted his ability to deliver federal resources for Kentucky, including in the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March, which he says helps the state “punch above its weight.”

He has also pitched himself to voters as someone who has been instrumental to implementing President Trump’s agenda by helping pass tax reform in 2017 and confirm Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

The new Morning Consult poll shows Trump with a huge lead over former Vice President Joe Biden in Kentucky, 59 percent to 35 percent.

The Louisville Courier Journal, however, noted that Trump’s lead is smaller than his 30-point margin of victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.