McConell's rating is only down one percent since last December. | JAY WESTCOTT/POLITICO Poll: McConnell popularity sagging

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s popularity continues to stay underwater by double digits, according to a new poll.

The senior Kentucky Republican senator has just 36 percent of Kentucky voters approving of his job performance and a majority of 54 percent disapproving, according to a the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling poll released Tuesday.


His rating is only down one percent since last December, however the overall net approval (-18) remains the same, since his approval also fell by one.

( Also on POLITICO: McConnell seeks FBI investigation)

Junior Sen. Rand Paul fares a bit better than his fellow Republican with 46 percent approving of the job he’s done, as opposed to 39 percent who disapprove. When asked who they had a higher opinion of, 42 percent said Paul, while a mere 24 percent said McConnell. The remaining 34 percent were unsure.

In hypothetical 2014 Senate race match ups, McConnell is ahead but only marginally, with several Democrats poised to make an impact on the race.

According to the poll, Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is just behind McConnell in poll match ups at 45-41, despite the possible Democratic candidate only having a 50 percent name recognition. Former Rep. Ben Chandler, also a Democrat, follows closely behind with only a 5 percentage point difference between him and McConnell at 46-41. The only Democratic candidate formally announced in the race at this point, Ed Marksberry, brings up the rear, with McConnell beating him out at 46-35.

Public Policy Polling surveyed 1,052 Kentucky voters and 320 Republican primary voters from April 5-7. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points for the overall voters and +/-5.5 percentage points for the GOP primary voters.