National poll: Trump leads in Kansas, trails nationwide
A new 50-state poll shows Republican Donald Trump leading Democrat Hillary Clinton comfortably in Kansas, but lagging her by more than 100 electoral votes nationwide.
Previous polls had shown a surprisingly close race in Republican-leaning Kansas, but a poll from the Washington Post and SurveyMonkey shows Trump with a comfortable lead in the Sunflower State.
Trump leads Clinton 49 to 37 percent in a two-way race in Kansas. The remaining 14 percent of respondents were undecided.
Trump maintains a double digit lead over Clinton in Kansas when Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are added to the poll. Trump drew support from 43 percent of Kansas respondents in this scenario, while Clinton drew 30 percent and Johnson drew 17 percent, significant for a third party candidate.
Stein had support from 4 percent, while the remaining 6 percent of respondents were undecided. Kansas has six electoral votes.
Neither candidate scores the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency in the poll, but Clinton is within reach at 244 electoral votes based on the states considered solid or leaning Democratic in the poll.
Trump scores 126 electoral votes, according to the poll, while 168 electoral votes are considered a toss-up. Trump would need to win the bulk of those toss-up states to get to 270 if the states leaning toward Clinton hold.
Texas, usually a dependably Republican state with 38 electoral votes, is a toss-up, according the poll, which shows Clinton leading a two-way race by 1 percentage point.
The poll of 74,886 registered voters was conducted online between Aug. 9 and Sept. 1. The survey includes responses from 741 Kansas voters.
No margin of error exists for the poll because it was not conducted randomly. The results of each state are weighted to match the demographic makeup of each state’s voter pool.
Bryan Lowry: 785-296-3006, @BryanLowry3
This story was originally published September 6, 2016 at 11:14 AM with the headline "National poll: Trump leads in Kansas, trails nationwide."