Michael Cassaro

In final public polling before tomorrow's Democratic Senate primary, Louisville businessman Bruce Lunsford has a large lead over opponent Greg Fischer.

According to a SurveyUSA/WHAS poll of 629 likely voters, Lunsford is polling 47 percent support to Fischer's 26. Four percent remain undecided.

Focusing on the economy and name recognition, Prospect physician and Democratic Senate candidate Mike Cassaro has joined the Senate race ad war just days before the May 20 Democratic primary.

Cassaro's campaign is airing two different ads this weekend on networks in Louisville and Lexington. The ads are expected to run through Monday.

Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville): Politicker photo

LOUISVILLE -- A noontime debate held today between five of the candidates vying for the Democratic Senate nomination found the two front-runners in the race only glancing the questions of party loyalty and corporate responsibility that would be accentuated in the events of the evening.

At today's event - was sponsored by the non-partisan issue group, the Louisville Forum - each candidate was allowed to ask one question to another candidate.

"Not surprisingly, my question is to Bruce," said Fischer.

"You stood in front of a statewide TV audience and clearly said something that is untrue," said Fischer, after outlining the details of the Monday exchange. "I'd like to ask you why you feel like your public record in health care and the Ernie Fletcher administration is not open game in this campaign?"

With exactly a week to go before Kentucky's primary election day, Democratic Senate candidate and Louisville businessman Bruce Lunsford has a sizeable lead over the other six candidates in his bid to secure his party's nomination to take on incumbent Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisvile) in November according to two new polls.

A new poll by the New Jersey-based firm SurveyUSA finds Lunsford sitting on an eighteen point lead over his nearest competition, Louisville businessman Greg Fischer. Lunsford holds a 41 to 23 percent advantage over Fischer of the May 20 primary. A Lexington Herald-Leader poll released yesterday evening shows Lunsford up twenty points over Fischer, with a 43 to 23 percent lead.

LEXINGTON -- Monday's debate among the seven candidates for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination should have left viewers with a good deal to think about, as some clear issue contrasts were established between the frontrunning candidates, Louisville businessmen Bruce Lunsford and Greg Fischer. Those two also exchanged contentious words over party loyalty and the state of the primary race - a competition punctuated by combative spurts in recent weeks. All the while, the five other candidates in the field tried to stand out from the crowd during the hour-and-a-half-long debate.

The debate - organized and broadcast by public television station KET - was the first debate to include Lunsford.

Lunsford missed a March 12 debate in Louisville due to a scheduling conflict, though that forum - for Louisville-based candidates only- included just Prospect physician Michael Cassaro and Fischer.

With the race for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination winding to a close on May 20, candidates will have two opportunities to distinguish themselves from the field in debates this week.

Tonight, the traditional televised debate on the public television station, KET, will occur at 7pm EST.

All seven of the Democratic candidates are expected to be in attendance for the live event, which will be broadcast from KET's Lexington studios. The debate will also be simulcast on KET's website.

Michael Cassaro (D-Prospect) at the Owensboro International Barbeque Festival

OWENSBORO -- With just over a week to go until the May 20 primary election, the Owensboro International BBQ Festival's political forum gave four of the seven Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate a chance to hone their stump speeches for their campaigns' final pushes. Prospect physician Michael Cassaro, Manchester Attorney Ken Stepp, and fellow Louisville businessmen Greg Fischer and Bruce Lunsford all made the journey to Owensboro on Saturday to greet barbeque lovers and present their case to area voters.

"I would say that from my standpoint, 60 years and I've never been anywhere else. So everything I have done has really been built out of here. I consider myself a rural Kentuckian," Lunsford told PolitickerKY.com. "The candidate I am running against in November is a city slicker. I am dealing with the same thing in this race a little bit. I think I understand and relate to the agricultural community maybe as well as anybody that has run for United States Senator in a long time. Neither of our two present Senators has much feel what a farmer goes through. I was raised my entire life on a farm."

Meanwhile, Greg Fischer tried to capitalize on his recent cuts into Lunsford's lead in the polls.

"Our campaign has tremendous momentum right now and it has shaken up the establishment," said Fischer. "But I am not running for this office to please the establishment. I am running for this office for the people of Kentucky."

Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) at today's endorsement ceremony

Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford officially picked up the endorsement of Laborer's Union Local 576 this morning. Lunsford met with union leaders and members at the Local's Louisville headquarters to accept the endorsement.

"This is the latest sign that this campaign is pulling together the working class of Kentucky to take on a Senator that has not done much for the working class in Kentucky," said Lunsford today, referencing incumbent Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville). "He has said 'no' to many things that are important to these people."

Lunsford said this campaign cycle he had the opportunity to meet "openly" with labor for the first time. In doing so, the candidate said he was able to connect with them because of similar experience. Earlier in his remarks, Lunsford said he grew up in a union household.

"What has made me effective in this camp is that I have had an open opportunity to meet with labor for the first time in my public career, because they were always committed to others when I got involved [in the past]," Lunsford told PolitickerKY.com. "My background - how I was raised - is everything these guys live with...I understand this."

The Democratic Senate primary has undoubtedly turned negative over the last several weeks. The two candidates atop the field are engaged in a back-and-forth that took another turn today. This morning, the campaign of frontrunning candidate Bruce Lunsford unveiled an online petition calling on primary opponent Greg Fischer to stop his attacks.

In a release announcing the petition, the Lunsford campaign said the attacks are benefitting Republican incumbent Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) - the candidate the winner of the Democratic primary will face.

The petition - available here - had 106 signatures at press time, including representatives from organizations that have endorsed Lunsford, elected officials, Lunsford staffers, and other supporters.

With 21 days left until the Democratic Senate primary, Bruce Lunsford holds a 25 point lead over his nearest opponent in the seven-candidate field, Greg Fischer, according to numbers from the newest SurveyUSA/WHAS poll.

Lunsford now pulls 43 percent support from among the 555 likely voters polled. That figure is down four points from the last poll, released on April 15.

Fischer has doubled his support since the last poll, jumping from 9 to 18 percent.