President Trump & Governor Beshear with Majority Job Approval
A new Emerson College Polling survey of Kentucky voters finds 24% of Republican Primary voters support Congressman Andy Barr for the Republican nomination to replace retiring Senator Mitch McConnell, while 21% support former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and 14% businessman Nate Morris. Four percent support other candidates, and 38% are undecided.
“With just over three months until primary day, Rep. Barr and former Attorney General Cameron start this race as frontrunners, while Nate Morris follows within striking distance,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Barr’s support is highest among male voters, 27%, voters over 70, 38%, and voters with a college or postgraduate degree, at 31%, while Cameron’s support peaks among voters in their 40s and 50s at 25%.”
In the Democratic Primary, 30% support 2022 Democratic nominee Charles Booker, while 19% support 2020 nominee Amy McGrath. Forty-three percent are undecided.
“Booker leads McGrath among all age groups, with the exception of Democratic voters 70 and over, who break for McGrath by 10 points, 29% to 19%,” Kimball noted.
Fifty-three percent of Kentucky voters approve of the job President Trump is doing in office, while 39% disapprove. Eight percent are neutral.
Governor Besehar holds a 52% job approval rating, while 31% disapprove of the job he is doing in office; 17% are neutral or have no opinion. Forty-eight percent of Kentucky voters do not think Beshear should run for president, while 35% think he should. Eighteen percent are unsure.
Voters are positive about Governor Beshear’s response to the January winter storm: 40% give Beshear an “A” on the response, 24% a “B”, 19% a “C”, 8% a D and 9% an “F”.
“Governor Beshear’s approval rating among Democrats is strong at 81%, he also holds majority approval among independents, at 50%,” Kimball noted.
Senator McConnell holds a 15% job approval rating, while 68% disapprove of the job he is doing in office in his last term. Senator Paul holds a 30% job approval rating among voters, while 32% disapprove of the job he is doing.
A plurality of Kentucky voters (48%) think tariffs are more harmful to the economy, while 43% think tariffs are more beneficial to the economy; 9% think they have no impact on the economy.
- Opinion on tariffs varies by party: 65% of Republicans think they are more beneficial, while a majority of Democrats (79%) and independents (60%) think they are more harmful.
Thirty-nine percent of voters think the economy is the most important issue facing Kentucky, followed by healthcare (15%), threats to democracy (14%), housing affordability (10%), and education (8%).
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling Kentucky survey was conducted January 31-February 2, 2026. The overall sample of Kentucky likely voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percentage points. The sample of Kentucky likely Republican Primary voters has a sample size of n=523 with a credibility interval of +/-4.2%. The sample of Kentucky likely Democratic Primary voters has a sample size of n=381 with a credibility interval of +/-5%. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting a voter list of cellphones via MMS-to-web text (lists provided by Aristotle), and an online panel of voters provided by Commonwealth Opinions Panel and PureSpectrum. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with exact wording and order, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found below. The survey was sponsored by Emerson College and Nexstar Media.
