Libertarian Keen Umbehr could decide who wins the hotly contested Kansas gubernatorial race, according to a new survey released by Public Policy Polling. State House Minority Leader Paul Davis is leading Republican Governor Sam Brownback by a 42%-38% margin, while Umbehr captures 7% of the vote.
“This is a rare contest where the Libertarian candidate is actually hurting the Democratic candidate by splitting the anti-Brownback vote,” notes PPP’s Tom Jensen. “Umbehr voters say they would Davis over Brownback 55/26 if they had to pick between the two, and when you reallocate their votes it would bump Davis up to a 6 point lead.”
Umbehr is an attorney and former Alma city council member who won a Supreme Court case in 1996. He sued his local county commission when they terminated his business’ ten-year contract to collect waste. Umbehr’s trash collection contract was pulled, he argued, because of critical statements he had made about the commissioners in his regular local newspaper column.
Unwilling to back down, Umbehr filed a 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 lawsuit that alleged the termination was in retaliation for his decision to exercise his First Amendment rights. The case wound its way through every level of the legal system, eventually ending up at the United States Supreme Court, which handed down a 7-2 ruling in his favor.
Kansas also features a U.S. Senate race in which independent candidate Greg Orman is leading the Republican incumbent by at least 7-points.
See full results of the PPP survey by clicking here.
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