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Poll shows dead heat in Missouri U.S. Senate race

By Adam Allington, St. Louis Public Radio

St. Louis – The vote to replace Missouri Republican Kit Bond in the U.S. Senate is almost a year away, but a survey released Wednesday by a Democratic polling organization shows a statistical dead heat between the leading candidates: Democrat Robin Carnahan and Republican Roy Blunt.

Pollsters called 750 Missourians were polled and asked a variety of questions including whether they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the candidates.

Forty percent of the respondents say they have favorable opinion of Carnahan, compared to Blunt's 30 percent. But Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling said national approval ratings for Democrats are way down, which explains why Carnahan only leads Blunt by 43 to 42 percent when voters were asked whom they'd choose.

"It's sort of a situation where if both candidates where the same, the Republican would win, because Republicans are doing so much better nationally," Jensen said. But Carnahan's superior popularity is really going to make this competitive."

The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 3.6 percent.

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