Roberts tied in Kansas Senate poll

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) is tied with independent challenger Greg Orman in a new independent poll of the race, the latest confirming Orman is still competitive despite facing a barrage of outside attacks.

{mosads}The poll, from Monmouth University, gives both Roberts and Orman 46 percent support. Three percent say they’ll vote for another candidate, and 5 percent are undecided.

Two polls released last week showed a similarly tight race, one with Orman leading Roberts by 3 percentage points and the other with Roberts up by 2 points. That’s good news for Democrats, who see Orman as a better bet than Roberts, despite the fact that the independent hasn’t yet said who he’d caucus with if Kansas is the deciding seat in control of the Senate.

While most Democrats, 81 percent, back Orman, 14 percent back Roberts.

Orman’s strength comes from his strong support from independents: 60 percent back him, while 32 percent chose Roberts.

Contributing to Roberts’s vulnerability is the fact that he still hasn’t fully consolidated his base. Seventy-six percent of Republicans said they’d vote for him, while 14 percent backed Orman.

That suggests the influx of outside spending from GOP groups attacking Orman as a closet Democrat isn’t having the intended effect.

The Monmouth University poll has good news for Democrats at the gubernatorial level as well — Democratic nominee Paul Davis is taking 50 percent against Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, who draws just 45 percent support.

The poll was conducted via telephone among 429 likely Kansas voters from Oct. 16-19, and has a margin of error of 4.7 percent.