-Pat Roberts is one of the most anonymous Senators in the country. 31% of voters approve of him, 28% disapprove, and 41% don't have an opinion either way. The only Senator in the county we've found with a higher percentage of voters having no opinion about him is first termer Mark Kirk of Illinois.
Nevertheless Roberts shouldn't be in too much trouble next year, at least in a general election. He leads every Democrat we tested against him by double digits- it's 11 points over Kathleen Sebelius at 51/40, 15 points over Mark Parkinson at 49/34, and 16 over Carl Brewer at 50/34.
Roberts' low profile could give him more trouble in a primary. Just 42% of Republicans say they would vote to re-nominate him, while 34% say they would prefer someone 'more conservative.' Those are pretty uninspiring numbers if a more fiery candidate wanted to challenge him from the right. Roberts has bigger leads over specific GOP alternatives we tested against him though- 21 points over Todd Tiahrt at 47/26, 31 over Tim Huelskamp at 53/22, and 36 over Kris Kobach at 55/19.
Democrats might have a better chance with someone like Huelskamp as the GOP nominee- he leads the Brewer/Sebelius/Parkinson trio by only 4-6 points. But obviously the Republican lean of the state will make it hard for Democrats regardless of the GOP candidate.
Jerry Moran is Kansas' more popular Senator with a 38% approval rating and 27% disapproving, although that makes him one of the less well known Senators in the country as well.
-By far and away the most well liked political figure in Kansas is former Senator Bob Dole, who has a 69/14 favorability rating. Dole is the rare political figure who has genuine bipartisan popularity- his favorability is 78/10 with Republicans, 62/18 with Democrats, and 59/17 with independents.
-Going back even further in history, John Brown has a 30/25 favorability rating with Kansans. He's at 37/26 with Democrats, 31/23 with independents, and 26/25 with Republicans.
-72% of voters in the state have no opinion either way about the book 'What's the Matter with Kansas?' 18% have a positive view of it to 10% with a negative one. Unsurprisingly Democrats liked it (35/8), while Republicans did not (8/11).
-Kansas reflects what we find in most red states when it comes to legal rights for gay couples: voters in the state oppose same sex marriage but support at least civil union rights. Just 39% think same sex marriage should be legal to 51% who think it should continue to be illegal. But 63% support civil unions with just 34% believing there should be no legal rights at all for gay couples. As we find most everywhere young voters do support same sex marriage.
