HAYS, Kan., Oct. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Docking Institute of Public Affairs recently released the annual Kansas Speaks Survey of public opinion. A panel of 603 adult residents of Kansas, ages 18 and older, was surveyed online to assess their attitudes and opinions regarding various issues of interest to Kansas citizens. This year’s survey covered topics including quality of life, the economy, ratings of elected officials, taxation, data centers, and a range of other public affairs issues, a selection of which includes attitudes toward legalizing medical and recreational marijuana, immigration, Medicaid expansion, and gun ownership.
“Kansans’ rating of the Kansas economy is less positive this year,” said survey report co-author Jian Sun. “20.4% of Kansans rate the Kansas economy as excellent or very good, down from 27.7% in 2025. 48.6% feel the Kansas economy is getting worse, up from 36.1% in 2025. Kansans’ rating of the national economy is much lower than the rating of Kansas economy. Only 13.1% rate the national economy as excellent or very good, and 63.5% feel the national economy is getting worse.”
“With building and siting of data centers being a prominent public topic in recent years and especially in this election cycle, we fielded a series of questions to parse out types of concern. Out of nine common concerns we asked about, the three concerns that rise to the top are energy usage, water usage, and the AI made possible by data centers,” said Brett Zollinger, Docking Institute Director and co-author of the report.
Select findings from the 2026 Kansas Speaks Survey include:
- Support for Medicaid expansion in Kansas in 2026 is at 68%, close to the 70% typical of previous years. Over half (53.4%) of the respondents feel the issue is highly or extremely important as they decide who will get their vote to represent them in the Kansas Legislature.
- 69% support providing paid family and medical leave for all employees in Kansas.
- 65% support legalizing medical marijuana in Kansas (15% oppose), while about 58% support legalizing recreational marijuana (21% oppose).
- More than 60% agree that legal immigrants contribute to the economic vitality of their own community (63%), economic growth of the U.S. (62%), economic vitality of Kansas (61%), and to government revenue by paying taxes (61%). More than half agree that they enrich American culture and values (57%) and accept jobs that Americans don’t want (54%).
- Regarding illegal immigration, about 35% agree that illegal immigrants contribute more to society than they take in terms of resources, while 40% disagree with the statement.
- About 55% agree that education beyond high school is a good return on investment for both the student and the general population of Kansas. Less than 20% disagree.
- From a list of 13 public affairs topics, over 80% of respondents ranked three cost issues as top five issues: cost of groceries (89.5%), cost of housing (86.7%), and cost of energy, including gasoline and diesel (82%).
A complete copy of the 2026 Kansas Speaks Survey results and results from previous years can be found at https://www.fhsu.edu/docking/Kansas-Speaks/.
Two political scientists from other Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) universities collaborated with Docking Institute staff on this year’s survey: Alexandra Middlewood from Wichita State University and Michael Smith of Emporia State University.
The two policy fellows worked closely with Docking Institute researchers to establish survey content and make methodological decisions. Smith led on content related to data centers, petition initiative and abortion attitudes/policy questions. Middlewood led in content that focused on immigration and gun ownership questions.
About the Docking Institute of Public Affairs
The primary mission of Fort Hays State University's Docking Institute of Public Affairs is to facilitate effective public policy decision-making among governmental and non-profit entities. The Institute’s work centers on five primary areas of focus, including:
- Survey and evaluation research
- Economic impact and feasibility studies
- Strategic planning facilitation
- Public affairs programming through public opinion surveying, conferences, speakers, forums, television and radio programming, newspaper columns, and scholarly publications
- Public administration and leadership training programs
Learn more at https://www.fhsu.edu/docking/
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