Today, President Trump is campaigning in Missouri on behalf of Republican attorney general Josh Hawley, who is running against two-term Democratic senator Claire McCaskill. Earlier this week, polling from the Trafalgar Group showed Hawley leading McCaskill by three percentage points.
Thatโs inside the pollโs margin of error, but itโs the first poll since early July that puts the race at something other than a tie. (Remington Research showed Hawley with a two-point lead in that survey from more than two months ago.)
Between July and today, four separate polls have shown the Missouri Senate race in a dead-heat, including a recent CBS News/YouGov poll that put both McCaskill and Hawley at 45 percent support among likely voters, with 6 percent undecided.
This weekโs Trafalgar poll, though, shows Hawley leading the Democratic senator 47 to 44 percent, with 8 percent of likely voters undecided. Interestingly, his three-point advantage lessened considerably when respondents were asked how theyโd vote if McCaskill were to support the confirmation of Trumpโs Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh โ in that case, Hawleyโs lead narrows to just half a percentage point. Voters indicated that, if McCaskill votes against Kavanaughโs confirmation, theyโd favor Hawley over their current senator 49 to 43 percent.
Those figures donโt bode well for the Democrat, who stated on Wednesday evening that she will vote against Kavanaugh if and when the Senate holds its vote on his nomination, a process that has been delayed by Christine Blasey Fordโs allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her 36 years ago. Kavanaugh has categorically denied it.
Just before announcing that she will not vote in favor of confirming Kavanaugh, McCaskill remarked at a campaign event in Missouri that she set would aside Fordโs allegation when making her decision about whether or not to support the nominee. That announcement was an odd move for the Democrat, who could easily have tried to use Fordโs allegation as cover for voting against Kavanaugh โ a vote that her left-wing base surely expects. Citing the allegation could have been a tactic to try and appease Missouriโs Trump-favoring electorate, which seems to still want Kavanaugh confirmed.
As it is, McCaskill appears to be in a bit of trouble. With about six weeks to go until the election, Missouri is looking even more like one of the top few states where the GOP could pick up a seat in the Senate.







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