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Posted on 10/01/2002 6:02:08 AM PDT by BlackRazor
Sebelius widens lead in poll
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Sebelius is attracting a large percentage of Republican voters, the poll shows.
BY JEAN HAYS
The Wichita Eagle
A new poll in the Nov 5 governor's race shows that Kathleen Sebelius has slightly widened her lead over Republican Tim Shallenburger.
Sebelius, a Democrat, now holds a 20-point lead -- up from 17 points two weeks ago -- according to a SurveyUSA poll commissioned by KWCH 12 Eyewitness News and The Wichita Eagle.
The automated statewide telephone poll of 671 likely voters was conducted Friday through Sunday and has a margin of error of 3.9 percent.
Sebelius leads Shallenburger 57 percent to 37 percent. Three percent of the voters said they were undecided. The other 4 percent said they would vote for either Reform Party candidate Ted Pettibone or Libertarian Dennis Hawver.
Sebelius also is continuing to attract more Republican voters, Joe Shipman of SurveyUSA said.
Of the Republicans polled, 42 percent said they would vote for Sebelius while 53 percent said they would vote for Shallenburger.
In contrast, only about 10 percent of the Democrats polled said they planned to vote for Shallenburger.
Nicole Corcoran-Basso, a spokeswoman for the Sebelius campaign, said the poll was good news and that the issues important to Sebelius seem equally important to Kansas voters.
Shallenburger campaign representatives could not be reached for comment.
Even as SurveyUSA was analyzing its poll, former U.S. senator and 1996 presidential candidate Bob Dole came back to Kansas Monday to try to energize and unite the Republican Party behind Shallenburger.
"We can't let one issue or two or three derail the Republican Party," Dole told about 150 people gathered at Shallenburger's campaign headquarters. "Not when you and your opponent have a difference on almost every issue."
Joining Dole and Shallenburger in Wichita Monday were U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback and Wichita Mayor Bob Knight. Knight ran against Shallenburger in the Republican primary for governor and lost despite having an early lead in the polls.
"I wouldn't pay a lot of attention to polls," Knight said. "It wasn't that long ago I had a 17-point lead."
At meetings in both Wichita and Topeka, the men reminded party members that Sebelius does not hold traditional Republican values, despite having the same last name as former GOP Congressman Keith Sebelius, her father-in-law.
"She married into the family," Shallenburger said.
While the SurveyUSA poll puts the Democrats ahead for governor, the Republicans have increased their lead in every other statewide race.
According to SurveyUSA:
In the state treasurer's race, Republican Lynn Jenkins leads Democrat Sally Finney, 51 percent to 37 percent.
In the race for insurance commissioner, Republican Sandy Praeger leads Democrat Jim Garner, 54 percent to 35 percent.
In the race for attorney general, Republican Phill Kline leads Democrat Chris Biggs, 51 percent to 37 percent.
If you want on or off my poll ping list, let me know!
Why are the Republicans jumping ship?
How bad is Shallenberger? Real bad: he's a...... conservative! Kansas' RINO soccer mommies like their "Republican" politicians to be soft and squishy (and non-conservative), like Bill Graves or Bob Dole. Like RINOs everywhere, they MUCH prefer a liberal DemocRat to a conservative Republican any day of the week.
DWG
I know little about Kansas but this is shocking.
I agree. Their position on high taxes alone is enough to wipe out liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Why is Schallenburger losing so badly?
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