Kelly’s polling advantage grows to 3.3% in governor’s race

Gov. Laura Kelly and Derek Schmidt remain neck-and-neck in polling in advance of Tuesday's election, with Kelly leading by 3.3% — with more than 4% of voters still undecided.

November 2, 2022 - 2:01 PM

New polling in the Kansas governor’s race one week before the Nov. 8 election shows Gov. Laura Kelly at 46.4%, Republican Derek Schmidt at 43.1% and independent Dennis Pyle at 4.5%. Kelly and Pyle added to their numbers since a comparable poll in September, but Schmidt didn’t gain ground. Photo by Tim Carpenter / Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — New polling in the Kansas governor’s race showed Wednesday that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and independent governor candidate Dennis Pyle expanded their appeal in the past month while Republican nominee Derek Schmidt was struggling to move the needle with voters.

The latest Emerson College Polling survey showed Kelly with 46.4%, Schmidt at 43.1% and Pyle on 4.5%. Libertarian Seth Cordell registered at 1% and 4.4% were undecided. In September, Emerson pollsters said Kelly had the lead at 44.6% with Schmidt at 43.1% and Pyle at 3%.

Meanwhile, Democrat Chris Mann was ahead of Republican Kris Kobach in the contest for attorney general. Mann had 43.8% in the survey to Kobach’s 42.7% with 10.8% undecided. U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican, was up 54% to 33% against Democratic nominee Mark Holland.

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