Poll: Gov. Beshear leads in governor’s race against Cameron

FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — A new poll shows Gov. Andy Beshear leading in the race for governor against Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a little more than a month before election day.

A new Emerson College Polling/FOX 56 News poll asked 450 registered voters questions between Oct. 1 and 3 about the upcoming election. Emerson College found Beshear leading with 49% support in the upcoming November gubernatorial election, while a third of voters (33%) plan to support Republican Cameron.

“Governor Beshear not only holds the majority of Democratic voters’ support at 85%, but also 44% of independent voters’ support and 28% of Republican voters’ support,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Cameron has a weaker base of support within his own party with 53%, and trails Beshear among independent voters with 25%.”

According to the poll, 5% of people plan to vote for someone else, while 13% are undecided.

Beshear has previously held high approval ratings. In August, Morning Consult Pro found him to be the fifth most-liked governor in the U.S. with an approval rating of 64%, with him having a higher approval rating among Republicans than any other Democrat governor.

Emerson College found Beshear holds a 44% approval rating among Kentucky voters and a 28% job disapproval, while 28% of voters are neutral.

“While Biden is an unpopular figure among Kentucky voters, Beshear has been able to separate himself from the president: he holds a 66% approval rating within his own party, and a 34% approval among both independent and Republican voters,” Kimball said.

During the May primary election, Cameron ran with the support of former President Donald Trump and finished with nearly 50% of votes in a 12-candidate race; his closest challenger, Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles only secured about 22%.

While Cameron is behind in this poll, a majority of Kentuckians continue to show support for Trump. The poll asked who people would vote for in a hypothetical 2024 presidential election between Trump and Biden. Trump held a 29-point lead over Biden, 55% to 26%.

Emerson College Polling/FOX 56 News questions:

The polling sample consisted of 450 registered voters, with a credibility interval similar to the poll’s margin of error of +/- 4.6 percentage points.