Donald Trump has a narrow lead in Missouri, a state that has voted Republican in the last four elections. | Getty Missouri poll: Trump leads, Blunt in close race

Republican Sen. Roy Blunt is running neck-and-neck with his Democratic challenger in Missouri, according to a new poll released Wednesday that also shows Donald Trump ahead of Hillary Clinton in the race for the state’s 10 electoral votes.

Blunt leads Democrat Jason Kander in the Monmouth University poll by just 2 percentage points, 46 percent to 44 percent — well within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. Blunt began the race against Kander with a larger advantage, but the Democratic secretary of state has been chipping away over the course of the campaign, making the state a major battleground in the race to control the Senate next year.


Voters are divided on Blunt, who is seeking a second term in the Senate: 32 percent view him favorably, compared to 33 percent who have an unfavorable opinion of the Republican.

Kander’s numbers are more positive — 33 percent favorable versus only 14 percent unfavorable — but a 53 percent majority say they have no opinion of him.

Blunt’s lead is down from a 5-point advantage in the previous Monmouth poll, back in August.

Missouri is not a battleground state in the Electoral College, however, despite the fact that Trump’s lead over Clinton is only 5 points, 46 percent to 41 percent. Libertarian Gary Johnson is at 5 percent, Green Party nominee Jill Stein is at 2 percent and 6 percent are undecided or prefer another candidate.

Neither campaign is spending significant time or money to try to win Missouri, which has voted Republican in the past four presidential elections.

Trump led by only 1 point back in August, as his campaign was in a tailspin nationally after the two national party conventions over the summer.

Both presidential candidates are viewed unfavorably bya majority of voters, but perceptions of Clinton (30 percent favorable/59 percent unfavorable) are slightly worse than those of Trump (32 percent favorable/56 percent unfavorable).

While about 9-in-10 likely voters said they had watched the 2005 video of Trump describing groping women or had heard about it, it isn’t having an impact on his supporters. A majority of all likely voters, 51 percent, said his comments were “inappropriate but [don’t] make him unfit for office.” Just 35 percent said the comments make him unfit.

The poll also shows a tight race for governor: Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster leads Republican Eric Greitens by just 3 points, 46 percent to 43 percent. Koster’s lead in the August survey was a more robust 11 points.

The poll was conducted October 9-11, surveying 406 likely voters.