MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A predicted shortfall in the Kansas budget loomed over Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s close re-election race as he and Democratic challenger Paul Davis scramble for votes in the final days of their heated campaign.

Davis started a swing into western Kansas on Saturday at a coffee shop in the Aggieville bar-and-restaurant district near the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan. He’s pressed his argument that massive personal income taxes enacted at Brownback’s urging have wrecked the state’s finances.

Brownback started his day in southeast Kansas on a state GOP bus tour meant to persuade voters that the state is on the right path economically even if it faces short-term budget challenges.

The state reported Friday that tax collections in October fell $23 million short of expectations.