by Nick Storm, @NickStorm_cn2 –
UPDATED: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul continues to hold a lead over Democratic candidate Lexington Mayor Jim Gray in a poll released by RunSwitch PR on Monday, the day of the one and only debate between the two candidates.
Paul leads Gray with 52 percent of respondents signaling their support for the Bowling Green Republican. Gray is scooping up support of 42 percent of respondents, according to the poll.
The survey was conducted by Cygnal, a research and targeted advertising firm, which tested 811 likely voters by live callers, who reached 70 percent of the respondents on landlines and 30 percent on cell phones. The RunSwitch poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.44 percent, and was conducted October 26 through the 28th.
Cygnal spoke with 333 Republicans, 439 Democrats and 39 people selecting other as their party. Other top line information on the poll can be viewed here. Crosstabs for the polling can also be viewed here.
RunSwith and Cygnal also polled the presidential race in Kentucky, and found Gray is performing better than Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Rural Kentucky is carrying Paul’s lead over Gray. The two candidates are “essentially tied in the Louisville media market and in the Lexington and Cincinnati markets combined.”
Gray campaign spokesperson Cathy Lindsey cast doubt on the veracity of the poll.
“This is a Republican poll that renders cell phones users second class citizens,” Lindsey said in a statement. “But even this poll show Jim Gray only 4 points behind among the people most likely to vote.
“We’re confident that as Kentuckians learn more about Jim’s success creating jobs, eliminating deficits and listening to both parties, they will support him on election day – the only poll that really counts.”
Kelsey Cooper, a spokesperson for Paul’s campaign, said they were looking forward to winning big on Election Day.
“We’re confident in our efforts to take Dr. Paul’s record of always standing for Kentucky to the voters and look forward to a big victory next week,” Cooper said.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is leading Clinton, 56 percent to 32 percent, according to the poll also conducted between October 26 – 28.
A breakdown of the numbers shows Clinton is losing in Eastern Kentucky, 74 percent to 22 percent, according to RunSwitch. In Western Kentucky Trump is also winning big, 65 percent to 27 percent.
Clinton is also struggling with her own party getting just 50 percent of Democrats, while Trump is winning 39 percent of his opposition party. Among Republicans, Trump leads Clinton 79 percent to 12 percent, according to a press release.
The survey will not capture whatever trends emerge as part of the news that Clinton’s emails are getting some fresh scrutiny from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.