Republican Rand Paul continues to lead Democrat Jack Conway by a significant, yet single-digit margin in the race for Kentucky's open Senate seat. A new Rasmussen poll finds Paul leading with 49% to Conway's 41%.

The result is not much different than the poll released in late June, as Conway lost a point and Paul stayed even. Since then, Paul and Conway have announced raising similar amounts of money in the second fundraising quarter, though Conway loaned his campaign $400,000, which pushed his total ahead of Paul's.

The Rasmussen poll also found that only 27 percent of likely voters believe the economy is improving, compared with 50 percent who think it's getting worse. The survey of 750 likely voters was conducted July 20 with a margin of error of +/- 4%.

The two candidates are running to replace retiring Republican Jim Bunning.

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