Governor Widens Lead Over Williams To 31%!

Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has extended his lead to 31 points over Republican Senate President David Williams, with just five weeks left before the Nov. 8 election, according to the latest Courier-Journal/WHAS11 Bluegrass Poll.

The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA, found that Beshear leads Williams 57 percent to 26 percent among likely Kentucky voters. The third candidate in the governor’s race, independent Gatewood Galbraith, had 8 percent, and 9 percent were undecided.

The poll questioned 569 likely voters Sept. 22-27 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

Beshear led Williams by 24 points in the last Bluegrass Poll, conducted in late July, and the fact that his lead continues to grow has some political observers convinced that his coattails will be long enough to carry most, if not all, of the state’s other Democratic candidates for constitutional offices to victory.

One person who believes Beshear could lead a wave of Democrats is Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, who said polling showing Williams so far behind likely will push down GOP turnout.

“If you’re a Republican and you’re not depressed by these numbers, you must be on Prozac,” he said.

The poll likely was not affected by new anti-Beshear television and radio ads, paid for by an independent political group, because the surveying was almost complete when the ads began running.

Williams' campaign chairman, Donald Storm, noted that not only does the poll not take into account the new ads, it came before news stories that said Beshear is claiming credit for creating jobs that don't yet exist.

“It is no secret that we've been outspent in this campaign by a governor covering up his abysmal record with a barrage of negative, misleading ads,” Storm said in a statement.

“David is going to keep fighting for his plan to eliminate the state's income taxes, enable neighborhood schools in Jefferson County, and get our state budget under control. … We won't stop taking our positive message to the people until the last minute before the polls close in November,” Storm said.