Alfred Miller | Courier Journal

Courier Journal, Courier Journal

Kentuckians are none too pleased with their governor, according to a new Mason-Dixon poll.

Statewide, 53 percent of Kentucky voters disapprove of Matt Bevin’s performance, up from 41 percent disapproval last year, the polling company said in a news release.

That could spell trouble for the Republican in the race for re-election. Already, Attorney General Andy Beshear, a Democrat, holds a 48-40 lead over Bevin in a head-to-head election matchup, the polling company said. About 12 percent are still undecided.

Matt Stone/Courier Journal

Even House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins, whose name only 42 percent of respondents recognized, held a slight 42-41 lead over Bevin. Adkins announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination last month.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, who hasn’t yet declared whether she is running, trailed Bevin 47-46, the polling firm said.

Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. It relied on phone interviews conducted between Dec. 12-15 of 625 randomly selected Kentuckians. Pollsters called both landlines and cell phones, Mason-Dixon said.

It is not unusual for Republican candidates to trail in the early stages of elections in Kentucky, Mason-Dixon said. In 2015, Bevin trailed for most of the race before pulling even in the final weeks.

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In May, poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight (https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/pollster-ratings/) gave Mason-Dixon a B+ rating. Mason-Dixon called 86 percent of races correctly, according to the 420 polls FiveThirtyEight analyzed.