KANSAS CITY, KAN. ----- In a new poll taken by KSN News, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is behind likely Democratic Party nominee and Kansas Rep. Paul Davis by six points.
Republicans across the state fare better in their races.
In the gubernatorial race, Davis has an advantage in Kansas City and Wichita. At this time, he's beating Brownback by 15 percent in the Wichita area and leads Brownback by three percent among voters in the Kansas City metro area. Brownback's strength comes from Western Kansas, where he leads Davis by 16 points.
Another factor: The female vote. Davis is leading Brownback by 14 points among women, while Brownback leads by one percent among men.
Davis also has made a sizable dent among Brownback's Republican support, according to the poll. Davis receives 26 percent of support from registered Republican voters. On the other hand, Brownback received six percent of support from Democrats in the poll.
If there's one single issue boosting Davis' chances, it's education. For those who consider education the most important issue, Davis is leading Brownback by 54 points. Brownback has a large lead against Davis among voters who consider taxes the most important issue.
Jennifer Winn, a Republican challenger to Brownback, received 37 percent of the vote against Brownback when Republicans were asked to choose between the two GOP candidates.
Kansas Libertarian Party candidate Keen Umbehr received five percent of the vote. Umbehr registers well for a third party candidate when it comes to the young vote. Umbehr received 13 percent of support from voters 18-34 years old.
In other races:
- U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts has a commanding lead over Milton Wolf in the GOP primary, earning 56 percent of support among Republican voters. Roberts also leads Democratic Party challenger Chad Taylor 43 to 33 percent. Independent candidate Greg Orman receives 8 percent, while Libertarian Party candidate Randall Batson received 5 percent. Roberts also leads another Democratic challenger, Patrick Wiesner, by 45-29 percent.
- If Milton Wolf were to win the primary, the Republicans would have an uphill battle in a traditionally dark red state. According to the poll, Wolf is behind Taylor by three points in that senate match-up. Wolf would lead Wiesner in that race, if it were to happen.
- Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach leads Democratic challenger Jean Schodorf by five percent. In the primary, Kobach is crushing Scott Morgan 61 to 29 percent
- In all polls, there's a sizable "undecided" count, meaning there's a lot of time left and undecided voters could swing many of the races.
Of the 1931 registered voters, 508 will vote in the Republican Party's primary, while 252 will likely vote in the Democratic Party's primary.
