New poll shows Sam Brownback, Paul Davis in dead heat in Kansas governor race

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback keeps inching closer to Democrat Paul Davis as the governor’s race nears its climactic finish.

A new poll for KSN television in Wichita finds the Lawrence state representative up on Brownback by just three points and just within the poll’s margin of error. It’s the closest Brownback’s been since the primary.

The poll by SurveyUSA found Davis with 46 percent to 43 percent for Brownback. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percent.

The poll results were similar to an NBC/Marist College poll released over the weekend that found Davis and Brownback running in tie.

The two most recent polls were very different from three recent polls showing Davis leading Brownback going into the Nov. 4 election.

SurveyUSA has polled the Kansas governor’s race four times since the August primary and each time Brownback has moved closer to Davis.

Brownback trailed Davis by eight points in August, seven points in September and five points three weeks ago.

While momentum is swinging Brownback’s way, SurveyUSA revealed a little nugget that could worry the governor and his strategists.

Fourteen percent of the 623 poll respondents had already cast ballots in advance. Among that group who had cast ballots, Brownback was trailing Davis by 19 percentage points, the pollsters said.

This story was originally published October 28, 2014 at 6:32 PM with the headline "New poll shows Sam Brownback, Paul Davis in dead heat in Kansas governor race."