Republican U.S. Senate candidates have healthy leads over their Democratic opponents in Kentucky, Alabama and Texas while Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is locked in a tight battle with Democrat Jaime Harrison, according to polling released on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell held a 17-point, 53% to 36% lead over Democrat Amy McGrath in Kentucky, according to the Morning Consult poll.
Ms. McGrath, a retired fighter pilot, has raised tens of millions of dollars for her campaign but barely survived a Democratic primary contest in June, edging out Charles Booker by about 3 points.
In Alabama, Republican nominee Tommy Tuberville had a 17-point, 52% to 35% lead over Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in the GOP’s best pick-up opportunity on the 2020 U.S. Senate map.
In Texas, GOP Sen. John Cornyn had a 6-point, 44% to 38% lead over Democrat MJ Hegar, who won a Democratic primary runoff last month.
In South Carolina, Mr. Graham had a 1-point, 44% to 43% lead over Mr. Harrison.
As Republican incumbents in battleground states ponder putting some distance between themselves and President Trump, the president had a larger vote share than the GOP Senate candidate in all four states, which have historically been solidly Republican at the presidential level.
Mr. Trump had a 24-point, 59% to 35% lead over presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden in Kentucky and a 22-point, 58% to 36% lead over Mr. Biden in Alabama.
In South Carolina, Mr. Trump had a 5-point, 49% to 44% lead over Mr. Biden, and Mr. Biden had a 1-point, 47% to 46% edge over Mr. Trump in Texas, which has not broken for a Democratic presidential candidate in more than four decades.
The surveys were conducted from July 24-Aug. 2.
The Kentucky poll of 793 likely voters has a 3-point margin of error, the Alabama poll of 609 likely voters has a 4-point margin of error, the South Carolina poll of 741 likely voters has a 4-point margin of error, and the Texas poll of 2,576 likely voters has a 2-point margin of error.
