The day after the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the Democratic Senate nominee should be removed from the November ballot, Rasmussen is out with a new poll showing independent candidate Greg Orman ahead of incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) by five points in a head-to-head race.
Orman leads Roberts among likely voters 45 percent to 40 percent without Democratic nominee Chad Taylor on the ballot, according to Rasmussen. The question of whether another Democrat will be on the ballot is still to be resolved, but the poll is further evidence that Orman fares much better if he doesn’t have to contend with a Democratic candidate.
When Rasmussen gave respondents a choice among all three candidates, Taylor received 9 percent of the vote and Roberts held a slight edge over Orman, 39 percent to 38 percent.
Other recent polls show Orman faring much better with Taylor gone. A Sept 17 Fox News poll gave Orman a sizable advantage, 48 percent to 42 percent, without Taylor on the ballot. Democratic firm Public Policy Polling put Orman up 41 percent to 34 percent with Taylor on the ballot in their Sept. 16 poll. A Sept. 8 Survey USA poll found Orman up with a 1-point lead, 37 percent to 36 percent, if Taylor were still on the ballot.
The Rasmussen poll, conducted Sept. 16-17, surveyed 750 likely voters. Its margin of error is 4 points.
TPM’s PollTracker average has Orman leading, 39 percent to 38 percent, with Taylor still attracting 9.3 percent of the vote.
