The Kansas governor’s race is in a dead heat with only five weeks left before Election Day, according to an Emerson University poll released Sunday.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach leads Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly by just one point among registered voters, 37 percent to 36 percent. Independent Greg Orman is in a distant third with 9 percent, and 15 percent of voters remain undecided.
Those results are consistent with other surveys of the race, but show that the results will come down to the wire in a high-stakes race that could see a notorious GOP hardliner become the most powerful figure in Kansas—or not.
TPM previously reported that Orman’s third-party bid complicates prospects for Kelly, who needs every vote she can get in the dark red state.
The Democratic lawmaker is a moderate who has received endorsements from a number of prominent Kansas Republicans. Kobach earned a national reputation by pushing for a crackdown on undocumented immigration and promoting the myth that widespread voter fraud influences national elections.
President Trump will campaign alongside Kobach, who he endorsed just before the August primary, at a rally in Topeka this weekend.
The Emerson poll was conducted Sept. 26-28 via phone and online surveys of 938 registered voters. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
