A new poll in the U.S. Senate race in Kansas puts independent candidate Greg Orman up by five points, 49-44 percent, over Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.

The survey by Rasmussen Reports, an independent firm whose sampling method tends to favor Republicans, shows Orman getting support from 31 percent of likely Republican voters, 88 percent of Democrats and nearly half the vote from people not affiliated with either of the two major parties.

It also showed 51 percent of likely voters have an unfavorable impression of Roberts, while 50 percent have a somewhat or very favorable impression of Orman.

The survey of 960 likely voters reported a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Orman has been leading in most polls since the Aug. 5 primary, and especially since Democrat Chad Taylor withdrew from the race. But recent polls have shown the race getting closer, with Orman leading by an average of 0.2 percentage points, according to the academic group Insight Kansas.