Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appears to be edging away from Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky, prompting Democrats to pull money out of the race and leading pundits to say he’s heading back to Washington where he hopes to lead the Senate majority.

In its most recent poll, Rasmussen Reports put the Republican’s lead among likely voters at 52 percent to Grimes’ 44 percent. He led 46 percent to 41 percent in September and 48 percent to 41 percent in late May.