David Williams Gains On Steve Beshear In Latest SurveyUSA poll, Though Steve Beshear Maintains Sizeable Double Digit Lead Over Him.
Steve Beshear maintains strong lead over David Williams, Bluegrass Poll finds
Senate President David Williams has gained little ground in his race against Gov. Steve Beshear, trailing the incumbent by 25 percentage points a week before the election, according to the latest Courier-Journal/WHAS11 Bluegrass Poll.
The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA last Friday through Tuesday, found Beshear with 54 percent of the vote and Williams with 29 percent. Independent Gatewood Galbraith, the third candidate in the race, remains at 9 percent, with 8 percent undecided.
Williams, the Republican nominee, has narrowed the gap only slightly since the last Bluegrass Poll, conducted by SurveyUSA in late September, which found Beshear with a 31-point lead. But he still trails by a huge margin that analysts say will be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome with just a few days remaining before next Tuesday’s election.
The Bluegrass poll has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points, meaning that, in theory, Beshear could lead by as many as 33 points or by as few as 16.
“The race is completely over,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “It’s been a joke of a general election. … Here is a classic example of the Republicans picking the wrong person at the wrong time.”
He said Beshear could have long coattails and blamed Williams for being a bad canditate who ran a bad race.
“I’m sure (Republicans) look back with regret on the primary,” he said.
Williams’ campaign said he will continue to work for votes through election day and is hoping for a turnout that will give him the victory.
“We are fighting for every vote in a situation where turnout is extremely fluid,” said Williams’ campaign chairman, Donald Storm. “David and (running mate Richie Farmer) are traveling the state talking to voters about their real plan for real jobs, something Steve Beshear doesn’t have.
“People know in their hearts that Kentucky can do better than Steve Beshear, and we are working hard to turn out the vote.”
Interviews for the poll ended before Williams criticized Beshear Tuesday for participating in a Hindu prayer ceremony last week at a new manufacturing plant site in Elizabethtown. Beshear recruited the company after a trip to India last fall, and the ceremony is traditionally used to mark groundbreakings.
Williams said practioners of the Hindu religion worship “false gods” and that he hopes “their eyes are opened and they receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior, but it’s their business what they do.”
The Beshear campaign said the poll results show that Kentucky voters are turning their backs on Williams because of his record as leader of the state Senate.
“It is clear Kentuckians are rejecting the politics of obstruction and partisanship in favor of Gov. Beshear's efforts to create jobs in every corner of the state and move Kentucky forward,” campaign spokesman Matt Erwin said in a statement.
The Bluegrass Poll found that Beshear, the Democrat, leads in virtually every demographic group — except for Republicans and self-described conservatives and tea-partiers.
In three statewide Bluegrass polls conducted since late July, Williams has never been above 29 percent and Beshear has never been below 52 percent. Galbraith’s percentage of the vote has gone virtually unchanged.
In September, Beshear led Williams 57-26 percent — but that was before a group called Restoring America, funded largely by nearly $3 million contributed by Williams’ father-in-law, began airing television commercials criticizing the governor.
The latest poll shows that Beshear gets more support than Williams from both men and women; people at all income levels; those who have either a high school or college education; and both gun owners and those who don’t own them.
Abortion foes back Beshear by the slightest of margins, while abortion-rights supporters are overwhelmingly behind him, as are moderates and liberals.
Beshear also holds majorities among the most religious portions of the state, with 52 percent of those who go to church every week saying they will vote to re-elect him — a striking statistic, since the more voters go to church, the more likely they are to vote for Republicans.
Sabato said Williams’ problems should have been foreseen when he struggled in the May primary against two Republicans who had virtually no statewide name recognition and very little money.
In that race, Williams got less than 50 percent of the vote and beat Phil Moffett, a Louisville businessman who was his strongest opponent, by just 10 percentage points.
“Primary results really are a tipoff to what’s going to happen in the general election,” Sabato said.
The poll found that despite tough economic times, Beshear still is popular with voters. The survey found that 45 percent said they have a favorable opinion of him, while only 27 percent have a negative view of him.
Williams, on the other hand, was viewed favorably by only 21 percent and unfavorably by 38 percent. The rest were either neutral or had no opinion. That’s a problem his campaign has tried to deal with unsuccessfully for months.
At a campaign stop in Shepherdsville Tuesday, Williams’ wife, Robyn, told voters to overlook their personal feelings about her husband.
“You don’t have to like David Williams, and I’m not asking anybody to marry him. I’ve taken that upon myself,” she said. “I would not give him to anyone else if they wanted him. … You don’t have to like him, I just want you to take a leap of faith.”
Kenny Harris, a 54-year-old truck driver from Todd County and a Democrat, said he looked at the issues and plans to vote for Williams.
He said he’s worried about the economy and believes too many people are taking advantage of government services and choosing not to work because entitlements such as food stamps and welfare are too generous.
“He (Williams) wants to see a new law that requires those receiving government assistance to take drug tests before they receive their benefits,” Harris said. “I just have more faith that David Williams would do something like that.”
But Ursula Bailey, a 54-year-old deputy district court clerk in Jefferson County, said she plans to vote for Beshear.
Bailey said she likes Beshear because he seems “nice. Sometimes politicians have some type of sneakiness about them. He doesn’t.”
At the same time, she said she doesn’t like Williams personally.
“He just looks like a playboy-type guy who’s arrogant,” she said. “He just rubs me the wrong way.”
Editor's note: ABOUT THE POLL
THE COURIER-JOURNAL/WHAS11 BLUEGRASS POLL® is based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 28 through Nov. 1 with 576 likely Kentucky voters by SurveyUSA. Twenty-one percent of the likely voters were interviewed on a cellphone by call center employees. Seventy-nine percent were interviewed on a landline phone using the recorded voice of a professional announcer.
The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus 4.2 percentage points. In theory, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results would not vary by more than the stated margin of sampling error, in one direction or the other, had the entire universe of respondents with telephones been interviewed with complete accuracy. Percentages based on subsamples are subject to a higher potential margin of error.
In addition to these sampling errors, the practical difficulties of conducting any survey can also influence the results.
Republishing or broadcasting the poll's results without credit to The Courier-Journal/WHAS11 is prohibited.
THE COURIER-JOURNAL/WHAS11 BLUEGRASS POLL® conforms to the standards of the National Council on Public Polls.
Senate President David Williams has gained little ground in his race against Gov. Steve Beshear, trailing the incumbent by 25 percentage points a week before the election, according to the latest Courier-Journal/WHAS11 Bluegrass Poll.
The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA last Friday through Tuesday, found Beshear with 54 percent of the vote and Williams with 29 percent. Independent Gatewood Galbraith, the third candidate in the race, remains at 9 percent, with 8 percent undecided.
Williams, the Republican nominee, has narrowed the gap only slightly since the last Bluegrass Poll, conducted by SurveyUSA in late September, which found Beshear with a 31-point lead. But he still trails by a huge margin that analysts say will be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome with just a few days remaining before next Tuesday’s election.
The Bluegrass poll has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points, meaning that, in theory, Beshear could lead by as many as 33 points or by as few as 16.
“The race is completely over,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “It’s been a joke of a general election. … Here is a classic example of the Republicans picking the wrong person at the wrong time.”
He said Beshear could have long coattails and blamed Williams for being a bad canditate who ran a bad race.
“I’m sure (Republicans) look back with regret on the primary,” he said.
Williams’ campaign said he will continue to work for votes through election day and is hoping for a turnout that will give him the victory.
“We are fighting for every vote in a situation where turnout is extremely fluid,” said Williams’ campaign chairman, Donald Storm. “David and (running mate Richie Farmer) are traveling the state talking to voters about their real plan for real jobs, something Steve Beshear doesn’t have.
“People know in their hearts that Kentucky can do better than Steve Beshear, and we are working hard to turn out the vote.”
Interviews for the poll ended before Williams criticized Beshear Tuesday for participating in a Hindu prayer ceremony last week at a new manufacturing plant site in Elizabethtown. Beshear recruited the company after a trip to India last fall, and the ceremony is traditionally used to mark groundbreakings.
Williams said practioners of the Hindu religion worship “false gods” and that he hopes “their eyes are opened and they receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior, but it’s their business what they do.”
The Beshear campaign said the poll results show that Kentucky voters are turning their backs on Williams because of his record as leader of the state Senate.
“It is clear Kentuckians are rejecting the politics of obstruction and partisanship in favor of Gov. Beshear's efforts to create jobs in every corner of the state and move Kentucky forward,” campaign spokesman Matt Erwin said in a statement.
The Bluegrass Poll found that Beshear, the Democrat, leads in virtually every demographic group — except for Republicans and self-described conservatives and tea-partiers.
In three statewide Bluegrass polls conducted since late July, Williams has never been above 29 percent and Beshear has never been below 52 percent. Galbraith’s percentage of the vote has gone virtually unchanged.
In September, Beshear led Williams 57-26 percent — but that was before a group called Restoring America, funded largely by nearly $3 million contributed by Williams’ father-in-law, began airing television commercials criticizing the governor.
The latest poll shows that Beshear gets more support than Williams from both men and women; people at all income levels; those who have either a high school or college education; and both gun owners and those who don’t own them.
Abortion foes back Beshear by the slightest of margins, while abortion-rights supporters are overwhelmingly behind him, as are moderates and liberals.
Beshear also holds majorities among the most religious portions of the state, with 52 percent of those who go to church every week saying they will vote to re-elect him — a striking statistic, since the more voters go to church, the more likely they are to vote for Republicans.
Sabato said Williams’ problems should have been foreseen when he struggled in the May primary against two Republicans who had virtually no statewide name recognition and very little money.
In that race, Williams got less than 50 percent of the vote and beat Phil Moffett, a Louisville businessman who was his strongest opponent, by just 10 percentage points.
“Primary results really are a tipoff to what’s going to happen in the general election,” Sabato said.
The poll found that despite tough economic times, Beshear still is popular with voters. The survey found that 45 percent said they have a favorable opinion of him, while only 27 percent have a negative view of him.
Williams, on the other hand, was viewed favorably by only 21 percent and unfavorably by 38 percent. The rest were either neutral or had no opinion. That’s a problem his campaign has tried to deal with unsuccessfully for months.
At a campaign stop in Shepherdsville Tuesday, Williams’ wife, Robyn, told voters to overlook their personal feelings about her husband.
“You don’t have to like David Williams, and I’m not asking anybody to marry him. I’ve taken that upon myself,” she said. “I would not give him to anyone else if they wanted him. … You don’t have to like him, I just want you to take a leap of faith.”
Kenny Harris, a 54-year-old truck driver from Todd County and a Democrat, said he looked at the issues and plans to vote for Williams.
He said he’s worried about the economy and believes too many people are taking advantage of government services and choosing not to work because entitlements such as food stamps and welfare are too generous.
“He (Williams) wants to see a new law that requires those receiving government assistance to take drug tests before they receive their benefits,” Harris said. “I just have more faith that David Williams would do something like that.”
But Ursula Bailey, a 54-year-old deputy district court clerk in Jefferson County, said she plans to vote for Beshear.
Bailey said she likes Beshear because he seems “nice. Sometimes politicians have some type of sneakiness about them. He doesn’t.”
At the same time, she said she doesn’t like Williams personally.
“He just looks like a playboy-type guy who’s arrogant,” she said. “He just rubs me the wrong way.”
Editor's note: ABOUT THE POLL
THE COURIER-JOURNAL/WHAS11 BLUEGRASS POLL® is based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 28 through Nov. 1 with 576 likely Kentucky voters by SurveyUSA. Twenty-one percent of the likely voters were interviewed on a cellphone by call center employees. Seventy-nine percent were interviewed on a landline phone using the recorded voice of a professional announcer.
The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus 4.2 percentage points. In theory, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results would not vary by more than the stated margin of sampling error, in one direction or the other, had the entire universe of respondents with telephones been interviewed with complete accuracy. Percentages based on subsamples are subject to a higher potential margin of error.
In addition to these sampling errors, the practical difficulties of conducting any survey can also influence the results.
Republishing or broadcasting the poll's results without credit to The Courier-Journal/WHAS11 is prohibited.
THE COURIER-JOURNAL/WHAS11 BLUEGRASS POLL® conforms to the standards of the National Council on Public Polls.
Labels: Polling
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