Donald Trump has expanded his lead over Hillary Clinton to double digits in a new poll of Missouri, while an incumbent Republican senator is struggling to hold onto his advantage.
Monmouth University’s Missouri poll shows Trump ahead of Clinton by 14 percentage points, 52-38, among likely voters, after Trump bested Clinton by 5 points, 46-41, in mid-October.
“In a trend we have seen in other red states, Republican-leaning voters in Missouri look like they are coming home to support their party’s nominee despite any misgivings they may have about him,” said Patrick Murray, Monmouth University Polling Institute director, in a statement.
The FBI’s renewed investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails does not appear to be boosting Trump, but may have an impact for other Republicans on the ballot. Incumbent GOP Sen. Roy Blunt has a 1-percentage-point lead, 47-46, on Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander.
“Most of those voters who are swayed by the latest bombshell have moved into Trump’s camp, but some actually side with Clinton now,” Murray said in a statement. “The bottom line is that the net impact of the FBI news is contributing no more than one or two points to Trump’s overall margin here. The one way this small effect could be critical is if it spurs GOP turnout that could be decisive in razor-thin races down the ballot.”
And Clinton’s coattails are proving longer than Trump’s, thus far. Kander retains 90 percent of likely voters going for Clinton, while Blunt holds just 79 percent of likely Trump voters. This portends poorly for Republican efforts to keep control of the Senate as a result of next week’s election.
The Monmouth University poll surveyed 405 likely Missouri voters by telephone from Oct. 28-31. The poll had a 4.9 percentage point margin of error.
