Enjoying favorable name recognition, former Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt is leading in a new poll of the 2nd Congressional District race.
The poll done by the Kansas City firm co/efficient shows Schmidt with support from 44% of the 1,517 likely GOP primary voters who were surveyed.
Jeff Kahrs, district director for current 2nd District Congressman Jake LaTurner, was polling at 4% while former Kansas Livestock Association President Shawn Tiffany was at 3%.
There was still 49% undecided, however, leaving room for the other candidates to grow.
The poll, done May 13-14 via text messages and land line calls, had a margin of error of 2.49%.
The poll showed that Schmidt – coming off an unsuccessful run for governor – was viewed favorably by 46% of the voters polled.
Sixteen percent thought of Schmidt unfavorably and 30% were unsure while 8% never heard of him, according to the poll.
Six percent of those polled viewed Kahrs favorably and 6% thought of him as unfavorably. Thirty-six percent were unsure and 52% hadn’t heard of him.
Tiffany faces a similar disadvantage.
The poll showed that 7% viewed him favorably while 4% viewed him unfavorably.
Thirty-six percent were unsure, and 53% of those surveyed hadn’t heard of him.
Name ID could be important in a race in which the primary is less than three months away.
There has been hardly any mention of a Democrat running for the seat, meaning that the primary could decide who is elected to Congress.
Schmidt has the advantage of representing part of the district as a state senator for 10 years and having just spent millions in a statewide race for governor.
He’s also expected to have access to donors after holding statewide office for more than a decade and running a campaign for governor.
However, one of his is rivals is eager to force Schmidt to defend his record in the Legislature, something the attorney general didn’t have to do during the governor’s race.
For only the third time in his political career, Schmidt will be tested in a Republican primary where he will be forced to defend his conservative credentials.
He faced a perennial candidate who had been charged with a crime in the 2022 Republican primary.
Schmidt had a primary in 2010 when he first ran for attorney general, easily defeating Ralph De Zago with about 76% of the vote before he was elected to office.
He also had a primary in 2000 when he defeated current Republican state Sen. Virgil Peck with 58% of the vote.
“After a failed governor’s campaign, of course Derek Schmidt has high name ID, but his liberal voting record has never been exposed,” said Kahrs’ campaign manager, Rob Fillion.
“His voting record in the Legislature is filled with bad votes on abortion and immigration and other issues conservatives hold dear,” Fillion said.
“As attorney general, Derek’s record was littered with liberal appointments to important boards, and only signing on to lawsuits against federal overreach when nearly every other Republican attorney general had already done so.
“Kansas Republicans want a congressman with a backbone who is willing to fight for conservative values, and that’s Jeff Kahrs,” he said.
A spokesperson for Tiffany declined to comment on the poll.
A spokesperson for Schmidt was not immediately available to comment late Tuesday.
The poll found that voters – 27% – believed that controlling the border and stopping illegal immigration were the most important issues.
It was followed by 19% of voters who listed cutting taxes as the second priority and 17% who thought inflation was the biggest issue facing Kansas.
Government corruption was fourth at 11% followed by protecting unborn lives at 10% and protecting Second Amendment rights at 5%.
Seventy-one percent of voters in the district viewed former President Donald Trump favorably, while 22% viewed him unfavorably.
