A Republican internal poll released Thursday shows Democrat Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump in the state’s 3rd Congressional District, a stretch of eastern Kansas that Mitt Romney won easily four years ago.

Trump trails Clinton by a 44 percent to 38 percent margin, according to the survey of 400 likely general election voters polled over the weekend. Romney, a Republican, won the district by 10 points in 2012.

The Public Opinion Strategies poll was released by the re-election campaign of U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, a Republican who has represented the 3rd District since 2011. The suburban, comparatively affluent district is the last Kansas district to be represented by a Democrat. Dennis Moore represented the 3rd District before Yoder.

Yoder leads Democratic challenger Jay Sidie by a 53 percent to 36 percent margin, according to the poll, which was commissioned by Yoder’s campaign.

"Let’s put this race in perspective," said Yoder campaign manager Cate Duerst. "Congressman Yoder is above 50 percent on the ballot, leading his virtual unknown opponent by double digits in a generic GOP district."

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee plans to invest heavily in Sidie, banking on Trump’s unpopularity — as well as that of Gov. Sam Brownback — hurting Yoder. Despite the bad numbers for Sidie, DCCC spokesman Tyler Law was optimistic Thursday.

"Yoder has fully embraced his party’s nominee, Donald Trump. Even this Republican poll clarifies that voters in Kansas’ 3rd District are going to reject Donald Trump," Law said.

Kyle Kondik, a University of Virginia researcher, announced Thursday he is downgrading Yoder’s district from a "safe Republican" district to a "likely Republican" district.

"Trump may underperform in Kansas, and the Republican brand in Kansas is somewhat tarnished thanks to unpopular Gov. Sam Brownback," Kondik said.

A statewide SurveyUSA poll released Tuesday showed Trump’s support at 44 percent in Kansas to Clinton’s 39 percent. A mid-July poll, also by SurveyUSA, showed Trump at 47 percent statewide and Clinton at 36 percent.

Yoder’s campaign appears unfazed by Trump’s numbers, however. According to the poll, Sidie has strikingly poor name identification. Only 19 percent of voters in the 3rd District have heard of the Democratic businessman.

"Kevin’s record of independence has suited him well in this district in the past and will likely bring voters to him who are not supporting other GOP candidates," Duerst said.

Law, on the other hand, expects the race between Yoder and Sidie to narrow as summer turns to autumn and Trump remains unpopular in the Kansas City suburbs.

"His 53 percent support is likely to be very soft, as he is the only known candidate in the race. This will change," Law said, calling Yoder a "desperate candidate" in a "uniquely perilous situation."

Patrick Miller, a University of Kansas political science professor, said Trump would lose the 3rd District if the election were held today.

"Of course, it’s a long way to (election) day," Miller noted on Twitter. "Trump has time to turn it around and Yoder has time to effectively distance himself from Trump."

Yoder’s fundraising prowess is unparalleled in Kansas. He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars each quarter and has $2.18 million to spend over the next three months. Sidie had about $74,000 on hand as of July 13, the last time he reported fundraising figures to the Federal Election Commission.