Could Kansas be a swing state? Poll places Harris shy of Trump
KANSAS (KSNT) - Kamala Harris is behind Donald Trump by a slim margin in Kansas, according to a recent poll.
Earlier this month, Fort Hays University published its Fall Kansas Speaks survey. The survey uses a panel of 645 adult Kansans to assess their opinions on a variety of topics. The fall survey found 43.2% of registered voters would vote for Harris and 48.2% would vote for Trump.
In the 2020 presidential election, Kansas voted Republican with 56.2% of votes going to Trump compared to Biden's 41.6%. The recent poll shows the candidates much closer than many would've guessed given the state's republican voting record.
27 News spoke to political analyst Bob Beatty to discuss the results of the poll.
"Voters know how their local services are being run," Beatty said. "They know whether the potholes are being filled or they're not. That's not a party issue. 'Is the pothole filled or not?' It doesn't matter if it's a Republican or Democrat. So, we do see people disregard party identification a lot more at the local level."
Kansas isn't known as a swing state, but the recent 'No' vote on the abortion amendment and reelection of Democrat Governor Laura Kelly could prove the race is closer than years prior. The last time the state's electorial votes went to a democrat candidate was in 1964 for Lyndon B. Johnson.
Beatty says this is all preliminary data and anything can happen on election day.
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