Poll: Majority of Kentuckians approve of Beshear, Cameron in contentious first year
A new poll found that a majority of Kentuckians approve of the job done by both Gov. Andy Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron during a year that has thrown both of them into a contentious spotlight.
Fifty three percent of Kentuckians said they approved of Beshear’s job performance, which has involved imposing restrictions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Those restrictions have chafed some Kentuckians, including Republicans like Cameron, who have filed lawsuits challenging Beshear’s restrictions.
Cameron had a 54 percent approval rating, according to the poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy. It surveyed 625 Kentuckians between October 12 and October 15 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The poll found 34 percent of Kentuckians disapproved of Cameron while 39 percent of Kentuckians disapproved of Beshear.
Cameron’s worst numbers were in the Louisville metro area (which includes Bullitt, Oldham, Trimble, Henry, Shelby, Spencer and Nelson counties), where he has been a key focus of protests over the killing by police of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old former emergency room technician. In the Louisville area, 42 percent approve and 48 percent disapprove of Cameron’s job performance.
After Cameron announced that a grand jury would not bring charges directly related to Taylor’s killing (one officer was indicted on wanton endangerment charges for shooting into a neighboring apartment), members of the grand jury have spoken out and said the Attorney General’s office did not seek charges against the officer who shot Taylor.
Cameron, though, is perceived favorably throughout the rest of the state, including 49 percent approval and 38 percent disapproval in the Lexington/Bluegrass region (which includes Fayette, Woodford, Franklin, Anderson, Scott, Harrison, Bourbon, Nicholas, Clark, Madison, Montgomery, Garrard, Jessamine, Boyle, Mercer, Washington, Marion, Powell and Estill counties) — illustrating the rural/urban divide as the country has grappled with a racial reckoning on police violence after protests throughout the summer.
Meanwhile, Beshear had positive approval numbers in Louisville, the Lexington/Bluegrass, Northern Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky, but saw less support in Western Kentucky, where 43 percent of respondents approved of his job and 49 percent disapproved.
Western Kentucky has been hit hard by the pandemic — Warren, Fulton, Union, Butler and Muhlenberg Counties have had the highest rate of cases per capita through the course of the pandemic.
Beshear was more popular among women then men and was perceived as least popular by respondents over 65 years old, where his approval rating was 49 percent (Cameron’s was 56 percent with the same age group).
Party affiliation also played a big role in the approval of the politicians. Beshear, a Democrat, had a 74 percent approval rating among Democrats and 26 percent approval rating among Republicans, while Cameron, a Republican, had a 77 percent approval rating among Republicans and a 36 percent approval rating among Democrats.
Beshear’s approval rating has slipped over the course of the pandemic, according to a study by Northeastern University, Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, Rutgers University and Northwestern University. While 79 percent of Kentuckians approved of Beshear’s handling of the pandemic in late April, that dropped to 58 percent by late August.
On Monday, a Spectrum/Ipsos online poll with 1,001 respondents found that 66 percent of Kentuckians approve of how Beshear is handling the pandemic while 28 percent disapprove. The same poll found 39 percent of Kentuckians approve of how Cameron handled the Breonna Taylor case while 38 percent disapproved.
