Final Kentucky governor poll shows Daniel Cameron stretching lead over GOP primary field

Daniel Cameron has expanded his lead over the rest of the Republican field in Kentucky's race for governor, according to what is likely the last independent poll ahead of the primary election Tuesday.

Emerson College Polling and Fox 56 Lexington released their latest polling of Kentucky's GOP primary Sunday night, showing Cameron's lead over Kelly Craft expanding from 6 percentage points in their mid-April polling to more than 15 points this past week.

The newest poll had 33% of likely GOP primary voters choosing Cameron, while Craft was favored by 17.6%. They were followed by Ryan Quarles with 13.2%, Eric Deters with 9.7%, Mike Harmon with 4.4% and Alan Keck with 3.1%.

The previous Emerson poll from April had Cameron at 30% and Craft at 24% — showing a much closer race than a Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy survey in January that had Cameron running away with a lead of 26 percentage points.

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According to a polling memo from Emerson, Craft's slide since April coincided with a decline in her favorable rating among GOP respondents. While 46% viewed her favorably in the polling this past week − almost identical from April − those having an unfavorable view of her increased from 21% to 37%.

While Craft's campaign and a supportive independent PAC have dominated the airwaves with TV ads since the beginning of the year — including many going negative against Cameron on the issue of crime — a PAC supporting Cameron has aired roughly $2 million of TV ads since mid-April that have gone negative against Craft, calling her campaign "desperate."

The newest round of polling also found former President Donald Trump — who has endorsed Cameron in the governor's race and held a 5-minute phone "tele-rally" in support of the attorney general Sunday night — to be the overwhelming favorite of Republican voters in Kentucky to the be GOP presidential nominee next year.

Kentucky held early voting Thursday through Saturday this past week, with election day voting taking place Tuesday.

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Final poll shows Daniel Cameron stretching lead over GOP primary field