Economy top issue for voters
A new Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media poll finds 45% of Kansas voters support Democrat Adam Hamilton and 43% support incumbent Republican Roger Marshall in the U.S. Senate race. Libertarian David Graham has 4% support, and 8% are undecided.
In the election for Governor, Republican Ty Masterson leads Democrat Cindy Holscher, 51% to 44%, with 6% undecided.
“This poll finds Democrats with their best chance to win their first Senate seat in Kansas since 1932, in part driven by Democrat Hamilton’s appeal to independent voters, leading by 15 points, 42% to 27%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Independents are splitting their ticket: in the race for Governor, they break for Masterson by two points, 47% to 45%.”
“The third-party candidate shakes up the Senate race in a way we do not see in the governor’s contest. The Libertarian, Graham, draws four percent support in the Senate race, and his supporters break heavily for Republican Ty Masterson for governor, 65% to 31%.”
Looking at name recognition of candidates for Senate, 41% have a favorable view of Senator Marshall, while 48% have an unfavorable view of him. Democrat Hamilton also holds a 41% favorable rating, while 30% have an unfavorable view, 16% are neutral, and 13% have not heard of him.
Republican candidate for Governor Ty Masterson has a 40% favorable rating and 44% unfavorable; 11% are neutral, and 5% have not heard of him. Democrat Cindy Holscher holds a 38% favorable rating and 35% unfavorable; 15% are neutral, and 12% have not heard of her.
President Donald Trump holds a 40% job approval rating and 53% disapproval among Kansas likely voters.
Governor Laura Kelly holds a 46% job approval rating and 39% disapproval.
The economy is the top issue for Kansas voters (48%), followed by healthcare (14%), threats to democracy (9%), housing affordability (9%), education (6%), and immigration (6%).
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media Kansas survey was conducted September 15-16, 2026. The sample of likely voters, n=750, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3.6 percent. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
Data was collected by contacting registered voters from a voter file provided by Aristotle using MMS text-to-web . Additional panel interviews were provided by PureSpectrum. The survey was hosted on QuestionPro.
All respondents were recruited using customized links that prevent responses from anyone outside of the poll’s sample frame. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was offered in English.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
All questions asked in this survey with exact wording and order, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found below.
