With focus on education and children, poll results favor Beshear
(The Center Square) – Poll results released Thursday afternoon show Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is in excellent position to win reelection this fall.
A survey conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for The Prichard Committee found Beshear, a Democrat, leads Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican nominee, 52% to 42%. According to the polling memo, the firm polled 800 registered voters in the state with an “oversample” of 400 parents.
The Prichard Committee is a Kentucky organization that studies issues related to education and children. According to its website, it seeks to influence state leaders and the public to take steps that put the state “the top tier of all states for education excellence and equity for all children, from their earliest through postsecondary years.”
The poll found Beshear to be a popular governor in the state, backing up what other polls have indicated in the past couple years. He enjoys a 63% approval rating, compared to 35% who disapprove.
Not surprisingly, nearly 9-in-10 Democrats support Beshear, but the poll found that 60% of independents and 38% of Republicans also approve of his work.
The Public Opinion poll also found a minor Trump bump for Beshear. Broken down by party, Republicans surveyed in the poll said they would vote for Cameron by a difference of 77% to 15%. For professed supporters of former President Trump, the difference is 70% to 23%.
Trump endorsed Cameron more than a year ago, a move that likely helped the attorney general win 48% of the vote in a 12-candidate Republican primary two months ago.
A message to the Cameron campaign was not immediately returned Friday morning.
Public Opinion conducted the poll from June 22-29. Earlier this week, Cameron announced state Sen. Robby Mills, R-Henderson, would serve as his pick for lieutenant governor.
The survey also found Kentuckians were nearly split on approval for the General Assembly, which has Republican supermajorities in both chambers. Overall, 44% of those polled approve of the job lawmakers have done in Frankfort, compared to 43% who disapprove.
Besides the political questions, the Prichard Committee also wanted to learn voters’ thoughts on child care issues. Across all voters, 58% said Kentucky’s not doing enough to give families access to affordable, high-quality child care. Among the parental subgroup, that figure was 63%.
It’s a vital issue to many families, as the survey found roughly 3-in-8 parents polled have changed their job status due to child care issues.
The survey has a 3.95% margin of error overall and a 5.59% margin for the parental subgroup.
