A Democrat running for the Senate in Kentucky is so worried about the negative effect being associated with President Barack Obama could have on her campaign, she wouldn't even admit to voting for him on Thursday when asked by a newspaper about her past support for her party's leader.

Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes refused to reveal her vote in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections to the Louisville Courier-Journal editorial board during an endorsement interview yesterday, claiming 'this election isn't about the president.'

Pressed to give a simple yes or no answer, Grimes, who has been open about her support for Obama in the past, began talking about how she backed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primary and tied herself to former president Bill Clinton's policies.

Kentucky's Democratic Senate nominee, Alison Lundergan Grimes, wouldn't say yesterday whether she voted for Barack Obama in 2008 or 2012 despite having openly announcing her support for him in the past. She's pictured here speaking at the Fancy Farm picnic in August in Fancy Farm, Kentucky

She then tried to wiggle her way out of the tight spot by telling her interviewers, 'I respect the sanctity of the ballot box, and I know that the members of this editorial board do as well.'

'So you're not gonna answer,' one of the board's members replied, matter-of-factually.

'Again, I don't think that the president is on the ballot, as much as Mitch McConnell might want him to be,' she said referring to her Republican opponent. 'It's my name on the ballot, and it's gonna be me holding [Obama] accountable for the failed decisions and votes he had made against the people of Kentucky.'

A longtime Democrat who won the office of secretary of state in 2011 with the support of her party, Grimes is the daughter of a former Democratic Party chair of Kentucky, Jerry Lundergan. Grimes' father also served as a state representative - an office he proudly held as a Democrat.

Asked about the risks associated with supporting Obama in 2012 by the Lexington Herald-Leader, Grimes said: ‘I’m a lifelong Democrat. I’m very proud of that and the values our party stands for. My support of our party and our nominee is well-known.’

Grimes has sought to distance herself from the Democratic president throughout her campaign against McConnell, however, even releasing an ad last month definitively stating that she's 'not Barack Obama,' just in case anyone was confused.

And like most other Democrats facing tough election battles, she's evaded the president on the campaign trail, opting to have Democratic surrogates like the Clintons campaign for her instead.

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes campaigns with former U.S. President Bill Clinton on August 6 in Lexington, Kentucky. Grimes in a virtual tie with the incumbent, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and is touting her support for the Clintons instead of Obama in her efforts to woo Kentucky voters

But Grimes' attempt to disown the president entirely sets a new precedent for Democrats this election cycle.

While other high-profile Democrats have claimed that they disagree with the way the president has handled certain issues and have publicly suggested they don't want him campaigning for them, none have disavowed him completely.

Grimes latest move shows just how toxic candidates from the president's party believe the once-beloved national leader to be now, a mere one and a half years into his second term.

Obama has not had an approval rating above 45 percent in Gallup's weekly tracking poll since last year.

Just one Democrat, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, is even willing to be seen with the president at a public campaign event.

Grimes' fear of losing her race to incumbent senator McConnell, a Republican who has held the seat since 1985, is not unfounded.

A recent CNN survey of Kentucky voters found that only 29 percent of the state's residents think Obama is doing a good job.

And three out of four polls taken in the last month showed McConnell up by four to six points over Grimes.