Why KS suburbs could be part of an Election Night blue wave, according to Vanity Fair
Kansas politics is not exactly in Vanity Fair’s wheelhouse. But speculation about a Joe Biden landslide has the magazine wondering if a suburban congressional district in the historically red state might be swept up in a blue wave.
In an article Tuesday, the magazine cited internal polling from an unidentified Democratic strategist that showed Biden leading President Donald Trump 55% to 40% in the 3rd congressional district that includes Johnson and Wyandotte counties.
By comparison, Hillary Clinton defeated Trump by a single point in the district in 2016.
The polling also found Biden’s net “favorable” rating in the district at 55% and his “very favorable” rating up 10 points since June, 27% to 37%. Trump’s “very favorable” the magazine said, was never higher than 32% during the same period.
The 3rd District started to show a blue shift in 2018, when it elected Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, 54-44%, over four-term Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder. Davids is favored to win re-election over Republican challenger Amanda Adkins, according to analysis sites like Cook Political Report and FiveThirtyEight.
Vanity Fair — a publication with a “left bias,” according to website mediabiasfactcheck — used Biden’s strong numbers to wonder about Trump’s popularity in other locations assumed to be Republican leans. Writer Peter Hamby went as far as to say that Biden was “kicking the (crap) out of Trump in eastern Kansas.”
“If that’s happening in Olathe, it’s unlikely Trump is faring much better outside Atlanta, Des Moines, Charlotte, or Houston,” Hamby wrote.
Trump is still heavily favored to win Kansas’ six electoral votes, according to FiveThirtyEight, winning the state in 95% of the site’s simulations.
This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 12:06 PM.
