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Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is in the fight for his political life in what was once one of America's deepest red states. In 2004, Brownback won election to the U.S. Senate with 69.2 percent of the vote; in 2010, he won the state's governorship with 63.3 percent of the vote. Now, the incumbent faces a serious challenge from his Democratic opponent, Kansas House Minority Leader Paul Davis. In a recent CNN/ORC poll, Brownback and Davis are tied among likely Kansas voters, with 49 percent

The Managing Editor for Townhall.com, Kevin Glass, recently wrote an article about how independent candidate Greg Orman is winning the independent vote in Kansas. His argument could simply be summed up like this: Because independent and undecided voters are low-information voters, they're flocking to Greg Orman because of the "I" next to his name -- they're being swayed by a single letter, and not by who the candidate is or the issues. Sound familiar? We'll get to this in a bit, but read the ar

In an age where over 90 percent of elections are determined in the primary, it's a rare occurrence for candidates to focus on voters who are not affiliated with a political party during the general election. Republican and Democratic party registration across the country has plummeted, and turnout is likely to dip 10-20 percent compared to presidential election years, according to Pew Research. With both of those factors in play, independent voters are primed to have a big impact this year. Be

Abysmal congressional approval ratings have become the norm in our hyper-partisan political environment and government dysfunction is now cited as the most pressing issue facing our nation. Problem solving and compromise have been replaced by party politics and congressional gridlock, bringing our government to a halt in 2013. But it would be a mistake to say that Republicans and Democrats don't compromise on anything. Over the last 200 years, they have worked together to create districts that

This campaign has opened my eyes to the many and varied opinions that voters across Nebraska think about when they are deciding on their votes. Since I am working on an independent candidate’s campaign, I have been exposed to the hesitation that many voters show when faced with the alternative option of voting for an independent candidate. Here are three opinions that regularly surface in comments and conversation on independent candidates. So, I thought I’d start some discussion on why these t

As the United States approaches the last month before the 2014 midterm elections, many analysts are spending considerable energy trying to figure out whether Democrats or Republicans will be able to control a majority in the U.S. Senate. However, a new poll by Gallup argues that more Americans wish they had alternative choices. In this survey, a majority of U.S. adults say that a third major political party is needed because the Republican and Democratic parties are doing such a “poor job” repr

Kris Kobach, the Republican secretary of state in Kansas, has spent a good portion of his political career defending the "purity" of the election process. Kobach has been involved in numerous voting reform schemes, defending his ideas as making it “easy to vote but hard to cheat." This past week's events in the U.S. Senate race in Kansas call into question Kobach's commitment to eliminating "cheating" from the electoral process. On September 18, the Kansas Supreme court ruled that Chad Taylor

Update, 09/19/2014: Kobach backtracked from his initial statement and said ballots will meet federal deadlines and will be printed and mailed out without a Democratic candidate in the U.S. Senate race. The major networks are buzzing with the news that the Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that Democratic candidate Chad Taylor's name is to be removed from the U.S. Senate ballot for the November election. But all the networks are missing a vital point, one that will probably mean this battle is jus

While the legal battle in the Kansas Senate race continues to heat up, the outcome may not make a difference for incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts if polling trends continue. According to the latest Public Policy Polling survey, which previously showed independent candidate Greg Orman leading Roberts in a head-to-head contest, Orman has a 7-point lead with all candidates included. Roberts is not the only one in trouble of losing his seat, however. Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who

It has become the biggest legal battle in the 2014 elections and it seems to be heating up every day. I am talking about the U.S. Senate race in Kansas, where Democrat Chad Taylor is trying to get off the ballot while Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach is fighting to keep him on.On September 3, Taylor announced his intentions to withdraw from the race, a move that propelled independent candidate Greg Orman to front-runner status. However, after several news networks around the country, i