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INDEPENDENCE, KAN. - In just six weeks, voters will go to the polls to cast their votes in the midterm elections. At stake is control of the Senate. Republicans believe they can pick up the six seats they need to retake the majority in the Senate, but now an unusual race in Kansas, one of the reddest states in the country, is threatening to upend those plans.

This is not where Republican senator Pat Roberts expected to find himself six weeks before election day...serving up pancakes with Sarah Palin in Independence, Kan., fighting to save the seat he's held since 1996.

"Every square inch of the Republican party knows what's at stake," said Roberts at a Thursday rally.

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The latest battleground tracker from CBS News/New York Times Upshot shows Republicans remain more likely to control the Senate in the next Congre...

Polls show Greg Orman, a businessman and former Democrat running as an Independent, has pulled even with Roberts.

"You know, I've tried both parties and I've generally been disappointed," Orman said.

Now a series of GOP all-stars like Sen. John McCain are flying in to help the 78-year-old incumbent.

"If it he's independent I'm an astronaut," said McCain.

"You have a friend in Washington, and his name is Pat Roberts," he said to an applauding crowd.

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Independent candidate threatens to upset GOP hold in Kansas