Blunt opens up lead on Kander in new poll

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The race for Senate in Missouri has become one of the most competitive in the nation, but with a week until Election Day, new polling suggests U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt has opened up a 3-point lead over Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander in the latest MO Scout/BK Strategies poll 47 percent to 44 percent.

The poll was taken Oct. 27 and 28 which means half of it was taken before the story broke about the FBI examining new emails related to Hillary Clinton’s time as Secretary of State. The same survey showed Trump with a 14-percent lead over Clinton 53-39.

The poll also reflected the tightening race for Governor with Attorney General Chris Koster maintaining a one percent lead over Eric Greitens 46-45.

“It’s clear from the data that Republicans and conservatives are coming home based on ideology,” Titus Bond, director of Remington Research Group, said. “You’ve seen over the last few weeks more Republicans and non-partisan voters indicate they will vote for the Republican candidate up and down the ticket. The only outlier to that would be Chris Koster who is in a competitive race, and it could mean trouble for Eric Greitens if he is still down one percent with a 14 percent Donald Trump lead.”

Remington Research Group has done more polling in Missouri than anyone else this cycle.

The Blunt campaign was understandably enthused by the results.

“This new poll represents a snapshot in time, and while the only poll that matters is the one on Nov. 8, it does show Roy Blunt with the momentum as the only candidate who can effectively change Washington,” said Rich Chrismer, a communications advisor to the Missouri Republican Party. “It also reflects that more Missourians understand that Jason Kander is a liberal politician who would make Washington worse with a more extreme version of ObamaCare, higher taxes, more job-killing regulations and liberal Supreme Court judges.”

Despite trailing by three, the Kander campaign was also confident with the results, citing BK Strategies’ supposed conservative bent.

“It’s very clear we have the momentum when even Republican pollsters show this race is statistically tied,” Kander campaign spokesperson Austin Laufersweiler said. “After spending nearly 20 years in Washington, Senator Blunt has clearly left Missourians behind, which is why his campaign is failing.”

The poll tallied 1,698 surveys with a margin of error of +/- 2.38% percent. It also showed Fred Ryman of the Constitution Party and Johnathan McFarland of the Green Party with one percent each in the U.S. Senate race, and five percent of voters remain still undecided.

Other results included looks at two constitutional amendments. Amendment 3 on cigarette taxes for early childhood education showed the Yes campaign behind 41 percent to 54 percent, and Amendment 4 which would ban future taxes on services with the Yes campaign ahead 45 percent to 39 percent.