The campaign for control of the U.S. Senate continues to be tight, according to a new batch of polls from Fox News conducted in four states.
In Kansas, Republican Sen. Pat Roberts has a slim edge over independent candidate Greg Orman, 40 percent to 38 percent — plus 11 percent for Democratic nominee Chad Taylor, who is currently in a legal fight with Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) to get his own name taken off the ballot, and 2 percent for Libertarian candidate Randall Batson.
If Taylor ultimately succeeds in his litigation — as appears somewhat probable from yesterday's oral arguments — this could work out nicely for Orman: In a two-way race Orman would pull ahead of Roberts, 48 percent to 42 percent.
In Iowa, where Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin is retiring, Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley and Republican state Joni Ernst are in a tie, at 41 percent each.
In Louisiana — which is actually having its top-two primary in November — this is the one poll to show a clear advantage for a Republican challenger: GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy is ahead of incumbent Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, 35 percent to 31 percent, plus 7 percent for another Republican Rob Maness, and 2 percent for Libertarian Brannon McMorris.
In a two-way race between Cassidy and Landrieu — which would be the likely runoff election in December, should no candidate get over 50 percent of the vote in November — Cassidy's lead over Landrieu grows to a whopping 13 points, 51 percent to 38 percent.
In North Carolina, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan leads state House Speaker Thom Tillis, 41 percent to 36 percent, plus 6 percent for Libertarian candidate Sean Haugh.
The poll were conducted by a partnership of Democratic pollster Anderson Robbins Research and Republican pollster Shaw & Co. Research. For each state, a survey of likely voters was conducted Sept. 14 to 16, and they each have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.