2008 United States Senate election in Kansas

2008 United States Senate election in Kansas
	County results; Roberts: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%; 80–90% >90% ; Slattery: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%
U.S. senator before election; Pat Roberts; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Pat Roberts; Republican

The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

The 2008 United States Senate election in Kansas was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pat Roberts won re-election to a third term.

Background

The state of Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932. Kansas's other Republican Senator Sam Brownback announced that he is retiring due to "self-imposed term limits," which meant Roberts became the senior senator from Kansas in 2011. It is considered one of the most Republican states in the U.S. The last time its electors went to a Democrat was the Presidential Election of 1964, when Lyndon Johnson carried the state over Barry Goldwater.

Roberts had announced ahead of the 1996 election that "I plan only to serve two terms in the U.S. Senate",^[1] but he broke that pledge in this election.

Republican primary

Candidates

Pat Roberts, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

Republican Party primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pat Roberts (Incumbent)	214,911	100.00%
Total votes			214,911	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Jim Slattery, former U.S. Representative and nominee for Governor in 1994
Lee Jones, nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2004

Results

Democratic primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Slattery	68,106	68.93%
	Democratic	Lee Jones	30,699	31.07%
Total votes			98,805	100.00%

General election

Candidates

Pat Roberts (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
Jim Slattery (D), former U.S. Representative
Randall Hodgkinson (L), attorney
Joseph L. Martin (Re), nominee for Secretary of State in 2006

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[3]	Safe R	October 23, 2008
CQ Politics^[4]	Likely R	October 31, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report^[5]	Safe R	November 2, 2008
Real Clear Politics^[6]	Safe R	November 4, 2008

Polling

Poll Source	Dates administered	Slattery	Roberts
Rasmussen Reports^[7]	May 13, 2008	40%	52%
Research 2000/Daily Kos^[8]	June 2–4, 2008	38%	50%
Cooper & Secrest^[9]	June 5–8, 2008	36%	48%
Rasmussen Reports^[7]	June 11, 2008	39%	48%
TargetPoint Consulting, Inc.^[10]	July 1, 2008	34%	54%
Rasmussen Reports^[11]	July 15, 2008	33%	61%
Rasmussen Reports^[11]	August 11, 2008	37%	56%
Survey USA^[12]	August 20, 2008	31%	58%
Survey USA^[13]	September 22, 2008	35%	55%
Rasmussen Reports^[11]	September 23, 2008	38%	58%
Rasmussen Reports^[11]	October 13, 2008	36%	55%
Survey USA^[14]	October 22, 2008	35%	57%
Survey USA^[15]	October 28, 2008	33%	60%

Results

General election results^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Pat Roberts (Incumbent)	727,121	60.06%	−22.46%
	Democratic	Jim Slattery	441,399	36.46%	+36.46%
	Libertarian	Randall Hodgkinson	25,727	2.12%	−6.98%
	Reform	Joseph L. Martin	16,443	1.36%	−7.02%
Majority			285,722	23.60%	−49.82%
Turnout			1,210,690
	Republican hold		Swing

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Douglas (Largest city: Lawrence)
Wyandotte (Largest city: Kansas City)
Atchison (Largest city: Atchison)

References

^ "Pat Roberts Said In 1996 He'd Only Serve Two Terms — He's Running For His Fourth". BuzzFeed. October 14, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Results" (PDF). www.kssos.org. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
^ "2008 Senate Race ratings for October 23, 2008". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
^ Race Ratings Chart: Senate Archived October 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine CQ Politics
^ "2008 Senate ratings". Inside Elections. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
^ "2008 RCP Averages & Senate Results". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Rasmussen Reports
^ Research 2000/Daily Kos
^ Cooper & Secrest
^ TargetPoint Consulting, Inc.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Rasmussen Reports
^ Survey USA
^ Survey USA
^ Survey USA
^ Survey USA
^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives". Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved May 9, 2021.

External links

Elections & Legislative from the Kansas Secretary of State
U.S. Congress candidates for Kansas at Project Vote Smart
Kansas, U.S. Senate CQ Politics
Kansas U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
Kansas U.S. Senate race from 2008 Race Tracker
Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
Roberts (R-i) vs Slattery (D) graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
Official campaign websites (Archived)

[1] "Pat Roberts Said In 1996 He'd Only Serve Two Terms — He's Running For His Fourth". BuzzFeed. October 14, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2014.

[kssos1-2] "Results" (PDF). www.kssos.org. Retrieved May 9, 2021.

[Cook_PR-3] "2008 Senate Race ratings for October 23, 2008". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 1, 2021.

[4] Race Ratings Chart: Senate Archived October 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine CQ Politics

[Inside_Elections-5] "2008 Senate ratings". Inside Elections. Retrieved April 1, 2021.

[6] "2008 RCP Averages & Senate Results". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved August 31, 2021.

[Rasmussen_Reports-7] Rasmussen Reports

[8] Research 2000/Daily Kos

[9] Cooper & Secrest

[10] TargetPoint Consulting, Inc.

[web.archive.org-11] Rasmussen Reports

[12] Survey USA

[13] Survey USA

[14] Survey USA

[15] Survey USA

[16] "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives". Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved May 9, 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

v t e (2007 ←) 2008 United States elections (→ 2009)
U.S. President	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Guam (straw poll)
U.S. Senate	Alabama Alaska Arkansas Colorado Delaware District of Columbia (shadow) Georgia Idaho Illinois Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Mississippi (special) Montana Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico North Carolina Oklahoma Oregon Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia Wyoming Wyoming (special)
U.S. House (election ratings)	Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California 12th sp Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia delegate shadow Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois 14th sp Indiana 7th sp Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana 1st sp 6th sp Maine Maryland 4th sp Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi 1st sp Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio 11th sp Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas U.S. Virgin Islands Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Governors	American Samoa Delaware Lt. Gov Indiana Missouri Lt. Gov Montana New Hampshire North Carolina Lt. Gov North Dakota Puerto Rico Utah Vermont Washington West Virginia
Attorneys General	North Carolina Pennsylvania Washington Ohio (special)
Other statewide elections	Pennsylvania Auditor General Treasurer Washington Secretary of State Wisconsin Supreme Court
State legislatures	Arizona Senate California Assembly Senate Connecticut Senate Delaware House Senate Iowa House Senate Massachusetts House Senate Michigan House Minnesota House Montana House New Mexico House Senate New York Assembly North Carolina House Senate Pennsylvania House Senate Senate Texas House Senate Washington (state) House Senate West Virginia Senate Wisconsin Assembly Senate Wyoming Senate
Mayors	Augusta, GA Bakersfield, CA Baton Rouge, LA Fresno, CA Honolulu, HI Irvine, CA Mesa, AZ Milwaukee, WI Orlando, FL Portland, OR Sacramento, CA San Diego, CA San Juan, PR Santa Ana, CA Stockton, CA Virginia Beach, VA
States	Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas U.S. Virgin Islands Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Background

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References

External links