Topeka ? Many Kansas voters believe their governor needs to understand the problems of ordinary people, work with members of both major political parties and tackle tough decisions.

Results of a new poll released Friday suggested that those qualities are so important that Kansans prize them above administrative experience, similar values on major issues and even an ability to attract jobs to the state.

Four of five respondents in The Kansas Poll said it was very important that a governor understand average people’s lives, take a bipartisan approach and be willing to make tough decisions.

In each case, fewer than 3 percent said those qualities were not so important.

For the eight other characteristics listed by the poll, none saw as high a percentage of respondents say it was very important. Party affiliation ranked last, with only 16 percent saying it was important.

“You have a combination of different factors in people saying, ‘We’re ready for people to work together for all of us,”‘ said Joe Aistrup, head of the political science department at Kansas State University.

The Kansas Poll was organized by the department of communication studies at Kansas University. Several Kansas media outlets sponsored the poll.

Pollsters surveyed 530 registered voters likely to vote in Tuesday’s primary election from July 27 through July 31. The margin of error for the poll was 4.3 percentage points.

The respondents also were asked to rank the top issue the new governor must address in January. Nearly 38 percent said the budget and the economy.

An analysis released with the polling data measured the value respondents placed on a governor’s willingness to raise new revenues or having a record of cutting spending.

About 48 percent said having a record of cutting spending was very important for them; 33 percent said it was somewhat important. Only 16 percent said it was not so important or not important at all.

As for a willingness to raise new revenues, 37 percent said it was very important, and another 37 percent said it was somewhat important. Eighteen percent said it was not so important or not important at all.

About 65 percent said an ability to attract new jobs was very important to them; 44 percent said holding similar values on major issues was.