A new poll from Rep. Lynn Jenkins’ campaign shows the Republican with a 12-point lead over her Democratic opponent.  

The poll, provided first to CQ Roll Call, showed Jenkins ahead, 49 percent to 37 percent, over Democrat Margie Wakefield. Another 6 percent of respondents said they would vote for the Libertarian candidate, and 8 percent said they were undecided in the survey.  

Jenkins’ re-election is playing out on the backdrop of a tumultuous political environment in Kansas, where Democrats are mounting a strong effort to oust GOP Gov. Sam Brownback, and an independent candidate is challenging Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. Two weeks ago, internal polls reportedly showed Jenkins in a single digit race. In the memo, pollster Dave Sackett said Jenkins has “almost tripled her lead over her Democratic challenger in the past two weeks” thanks to her paid media efforts.  

The poll found Jenkins with a 52 percent favorable rating and a 50 percent job approval rating, both of which are “significant improvements.” She has a 20-point lead over Wakefield among men, and a 5-point lead among female voters.  

Wakefield, the poll found, is not well-known by voters: 45 percent said they have no impression of her.  

The Tarrance Group conducted the poll for Jenkins’ campaign. They surveyed 400 “likely” registered voters in the district using telephone interviews from Oct. 18 through Oct. 20. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.  

The race is rated Safe Republican by the Rothenberg Political Report.  

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