Poll shows Republicans, Koster doing well

The latest poll of Missouri by Remington Research shows Republicans Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt leading in their respective races while Democrat Chris Koster holds a slight lead in the race for governor.

The poll follows some conventional wisdom about how the statewide races will play out, with Trump and Blunt holding bigger leads while Koster fights a closer battle with Eric Greitens.

“Donald Trump and Roy Blunt each hold respectable leads in their races,” said Titus Bond, Director of Remington Research Group. “It appears the biggest question mark for Republicans in Missouri is the race for governor. Even with large leads for Republicans at the top of the ticket, Democrats continue to hold the advantage in the contest for Governor.”

As polls nationwide show Trump gaining more traction, his lead expanded in Missouri, according to the poll, which shows him leading Hillary Clinton by nine percentage points.

Trump checks in with 47 percent of likely voters and Clinton has 38 percent of likely voters. Libertarian Gary Johnson holds the vote of 8 percent of voters while Green Party candidate Jill Stein gets three percent. Six percent of voters are undecided.

In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Blunt leads Secretary of State Jason Kander by seven percentage points. His 47-40 lead remains outside the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus three.

Attorney General Chris Koster is the only Democratic statewide candidate with a lead. He leads Greitens 46-42 among likely voters, a lead within the poll’s margin of error.

The poll was taken Sept. 1 and Sept. 2, before Koster was endorsed by the National Rifle Association. It polled 1,275 likely voters and was commissioned by MoScout.

Republicans hold leads in the down ballot statewide races, the poll found.

State Sen. Mike Parson, Josh Hawley, Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Eric Schmitt all hold leads over their Democratic opposition, but only Schmitt holds a lead outside the margin of error.

In the lieutenant governor race, Parson leads former U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan 44-41 with nine percent of voters undecided. For attorney general, Hawley leads Teresa Hensley 47-41 with 12 percent of voters undecided. And Ashcroft leads Robin Smith 46 -41 with 8 percent of voters undecided in the race for secretary of state.

Schmitt holds the biggest statewide lead. The poll shows him beating former Rep. Judy Baker 45-36 with 11 percent of voters undecided.

Tuesday marks 63 days until election day.