Food Policy Action, a two-year-old advocacy group, says conservative Rep Steve Southerland, who proposed the largest food stamp cuts in a generation, is its No 1 target for defeat in the November 4 elections. In a statement, the group said it “will devote significant resources in the race as part of a larger, $1 million effort to hold elected officials accountable for the votes they make related to food quality, accessibility, and sustainability…Food Policy Action will conduct a targeted voter turnout program, including telephone calls and digital ads, focused on educating drop-off voters about Southerland’s abysmal voting record on food policy.”
The group’s drive against Southerland “is a test of how to make food policy stick in the political arena” ahead of the 2016 presidential election, says an Associated Press story about Food Policy Action. Southerland, Florida Republican, is widely viewed as a vulnerable incumbent. He is challenged by Gwen Graham, daughter of a former Florida governor and senator. The AP says Food Policy Action will spend up to $100,000 to defeat Southerland.
Independent Greg Orman leads incumbent Republican Pat Roberts, 46-41 with 11 percent undecided in Kansas, says a telephone poll of 500 likely voters by Suffolk University and USA Today. “Orman has gained from Democratic nominee Chad Taylor’s dropping out of the race in September, and now he’s presenting a solid challenge to longtime Senator Pat Roberts,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. The poll found 47 percent have an unfavorable opinion of Roberts; the rating for Orman is 25 percent. It was the second poll in a row to show Orman in the lead, says Pollster.
“This (the Suffolk poll) was actually a bad result for Orman – worse than any poll we have that didn’t include Democrat Chad Taylor, who dropped out of the race,” said FiveThirtyEight, which gives Orman a 58 percent chance of winning. Orman held larger leads in previous head-to-head polls with Roberts. A third of Kansas voters have no opinion of Orman compared to 14 percent for Roberts, says FiveThirtyEight. “With Roberts so well known, the deciding factor in the Kansas race may be who defines Orman.”