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Emerson College Poll Finds Statistical Tie In Kansas Governor Race

A new poll by Emerson College in Massachusetts finds the Kansas governor’s race is a statistical tie with five weeks to go until the general election.

The poll reports 37 percent of voters surveyed chose Republican Kris Kobach and 36 percent chose Democrat Laura Kelly if the election was held now.

Independent candidate Greg Orman received support from 9 percent of voters. About 15 percent of those surveyed are still undecided.

The poll indicates President Donald Trump is popular in Kansas with a 55 percent approval and 45 percent disapproval rating.

Trump is headed to Topeka later this week to campaign for Kobach. Even with the president’s endorsement and popularity in Kansas, Kobach received a 47 percent unfavorable and a 38 percent favorable rating in the poll. Kelly has a 42 percent favorable and 30 percent unfavorable rating.

The results also show voters would re-elect Republican Ron Estes to represent the 4th District in Congress over Democrat challenger James Thompson. Estes had 50 percent of the vote to Thompson’s 26 percent. About 20 percent of voters questioned were still undecided in this race.

The poll also studied other congressional elections in Kansas:

  • In the 1st District, incumbent Republican Roger Marshall had 44 percent while Democrat Alan LaPolice received 17 percent. Thirty-five percent of voters were undecided.
  • In the 2nd District, Democrat Paul Davis had 35 percent while Republican Steve Watkins had 31 percent of the vote. Twenty-eight percent of voters were undecided.
  • In the 3rd District, Democrat Sharice Davids was at 47 percent against Incumbent Republican Kevin Yoder with 41 percent. Ten percent of voters surveyed in this race were undecided.
  • Emerson College conducted the poll last week. The results have a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. The data was weighted by gender, party affiliation and 2016 voter turnout.

Follow Deborah Shaar on Twitter @deborahshaar. To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

Deborah joined the news team at KMUW in September 2014 as a news reporter. She spent more than a dozen years working in news at both public and commercial radio and television stations in Ohio, West Virginia and Detroit, Michigan. Before relocating to Wichita in 2013, Deborah taught news and broadcasting classes at Tarrant County College in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area.