Independent Greg Orman leads incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts 46 percent to 41 percent among 500 likely voters, with 11 percent undecided, according to a new Suffolk University/USA Today poll.
With the election five weeks away, numerous Republicans have traveled to Kansas to campaign with Roberts, including Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole.
Democrat nominee Chad Taylor dropped out weeks ago, though Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach had been pushing a state court to force the Democratic Party to replace him on the ballot in an effort to protect Roberts, and possibly Republicans’ odds of winning the Senate in November.
But those efforts were rejected Wednesday when a state court ruled that Democrats don’t have to field a candidate in the race. The ruling by a three-judge panel in Kansas district court cements the race as a virtual head-to-head contest between Roberts and Orman.
Kansas voters went 60 percent for Mitt Romney in 2012, but only 37 percent of them currently approve of how Roberts is doing his job.
The Suffolk University survey was conducted via landline and cell phone Sept. 27 to 30 and has a margin of error of 4.4 percent.
