As polls show some Republican senators potentially in trouble, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is in better position heading into November. The GOP leader has a truly enormous bank account, and a new poll shows Democrats may have to look elsewhere when hoping for an expanded map.

The survey, from Research 2000 for the Lexington Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV, was conducted 5/7-9 among 500 likely Democratic primary voters, for a margin of error of +/- 4.5%, and among 600 likely general election voters, for a margin of error of +/- 4%. Democrats tested include health care executive Bruce Lunsford, who has twice run for governor, businessman Greg Fischer, physician Mike Cassaro, attorney Ken Stepp, retired postal worker David Wylie and frequent candidates James Rice and David Williams. McConnell was the only Republican surveyed.

Primary Election Matchup
(All / Men / Wom)
Lunsford 43 / 45 / 41
Fischer 23 / 22 / 24
Cassaro 5 / 6 / 4
Wiliams 5 / 6 / 4
Rice 4 / 3 / 5
Stepp 4 / 4 / 4
Wylie 2 / 1 / 3

The real race is between Lunsford and Fischer, both of whom have lent their campaigns significant amounts of money. Despite his two runs for governor, Lunsford has a relatively light 42% favorable rating among Democrats, while 23% view him unfavorably. Fischer is seen favorably by 37% of Democrats and unfavorably by 16%.

General Election Matchups (46% Dem, 39% GOP, 15% Ind)
(All / Dem / GOP / Ind / Men / Wom)
McConnell 48 / 16 / 86 / 49 / 52 / 44
Lunsford 36 / 61 / 6 / 36 / 33 / 39

McConnell 47 / 15 / 86 / 47 / 51 / 43
Fischer 35 / 60 / 5 / 35 / 32 / 38

Though he has a big lead, McConnell is taking nothing for granted. He's been running advertisements on television since late 2007, and through April 30, when pre-primary reports were due, McConnell had banked $7.7 million. That's much more than Fischer's nearly $1.2 million or Lunsford's $1.46 million raised. The two Democratic candidates, though, have lent themselves plenty of money; Fischer had given himself a little over $500,000, while Lunsford has given just over $1 million.

Ahead of next week's primary, Lunsford looks to be in the best position to give McConnell a real race, but the incumbent is what NRCC chairman Tom Cole might call a paranoid candidate. Unlike some members who lost in 2006 who were largely caught unaware, McConnell is not going to be surprised that he has a real race.