A majority of Kansas adults plan to vote for Democrat Laura Kelly over Republican Kris Kobach, according to a new poll by Fort Hays State University researchers.
The poll shows that 40 percent of the adults surveyed in the study plan to vote for Kelly, while 36 percent plan to cast a ballot for Kobach.
Independent Greg Orman was mired in third at 10 percent. Five percent picked another candidate. Nine percent of the adults interviewed said they didn’t plan to vote or could not vote in the Nov. 6 general election.
The survey is similar to what other polls of registered voters — not just the adult population — have shown throughout the race with just a little bit more daylight between Kelly and Kobach.
The study by the school’s Docking Institute of Public Affairs was done Aug. 22 to Sept. 25. It surveyed 494 adult Kansas residents. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
In general, the study found that Kobach tended to draw support from men, strong Republicans and those with lower levels of education.
Meanwhile, Kelly was getting support from women, Democrats and those with higher levels of education.
Orman, meanwhile, received higher support from independent voters and independent voters leaning Republican.
The survey showed that 24 percent of independent Kansas adults leaning Republican backed Orman, compared with 45 percent for Kobach and 19 percent for Kelly.
As with most other polls, the Fort Hays State survey shows that a vast majority of adults — 91 percent — know Kobach. Seventy-five percent knew Orman, while 62 percent knew Kelly, the survey showed.
While Kelly may be lesser known, she’s generally regarded more favorably than either of the other two major candidates.
The poll showed that 55 percent viewed Kelly positively, compared to 37 percent for Kobach and 31 percent for Orman. Forty percent viewed Republican Jeff Colyer favorably.
About half of those surveyed who said they voted in the 2014 governor’s race said they supported Republican Gov. Sam Brownback over Democrat Paul Davis.
In other items from the survey:
- Fifty-eight percent thought Kansas was on the “right track,” while 42 percent thought Kansas was on the “wrong track.”
- Thirty percent said they were satisfied with the Legislature’s actions to increase revenue in 2017 (i.e., repealing the Brownback tax cuts). Forty-one percent said they were unsatisfied, and 29 percent didn’t know.
- Thirty-seven percent approved of the Kansas Legislature compared to 44 percent dissatisfied. Nineteen percent didn’t know.
- Forty-five percent were satisfied with Colyer’s performance as governor compared to 29 percent who were dissatisfied. Twenty-seven percent were neutral.
- Forty-five percent were satisfied with U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran’s job performance compared to 32 percent dissatisfied. Twenty-three percent were neutral.
- Kansans were split even at 42 percent on U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts’ job performance. Sixteen percent were neutral.
- The Kansas Supreme Court was generally viewed well, with 53 percent satisfied with the court’s performance compared to 21 percent who were dissatisfied. Twenty-six percent had no opinion on the court.
