Poll shows strong lead for Eric Schmitt in Missouri U.S. Senate race

[libertybele]

Poll shows strong lead for Eric Schmitt in Missouri U.S. Senate race

Missourians are disgruntled with their government and pessimistic about the economy, a new poll from Saint Louis University and YouGov suggests.

They also want tighter gun laws, fewer abortion restrictions and seem poised to send Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt to the U.S. Senate.

The poll of 900 likely voters conducted between Aug. 8 and Aug. 16 is the latest in a series of surveys begun in June 2020 to track changing attitudes over time and get a snapshot of views on issues recently debated by state lawmakers. One of the most striking changes from a poll taken in July 2021 is that people are more pessimistic, said poll director Steven Rogers, an assistant professor of political science.

Rogers led the team that designed and analyzed the poll results.

“Missourians are more negative,” Rogers said. “For the first time in our poll, a majority of Missourians disagree with the statement that Missouri is on the right track.”

In the major political race this year, Schmitt was nominated by Republicans to face Trudy Busch Valentine, who won the Democratic nomination after spending millions of her family’s beer fortune. The poll tested both a head-to-head matchup and a race that included independent John Wood, who withdrew this week just as his petition for a spot on the ballot was about to be approved.

The poll indicates Schmitt actually had a bigger lead over Valentine with Wood in the race than without him, Rogers said.

“With or without Wood in the race,” Rogers said, “Schmitt would probably win.”.

While 8% of Valentine’s supporters shifted to Wood in the three-way race, only 6% of Schmitt’s voters did so. Almost twice as many Valentine supporters in the head-to-head matchup became undecided in a three-way election as did Schmitt’s, Rogers said.

The head-to-head poll shows Schmitt with a 49-38 lead, with 5% saying they will vote for one of the minor party candidates and 8% undecided. The poll has a margin of error of 3.75%. With Wood in the race, Schmitt’s lead expanded from 11 to 13 points..........

https://missouriindependent.com/2022/08/26/poll-shows-strong-lead-for-eric-schmitt-in-missouri-u-s-senate-race/

[mountaineer]

Why beer heiress and nurse Trudy Busch Valentine wants to be Missouri’s next US senator
    Jesse Bogan
Oct. 16, 2022
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

August Anheuser “Gussie” Busch Jr. was a legendary yeller and pounder who didn’t get past sixth grade. He led one of the largest breweries in the world, made friends with the likes of President Harry Truman and married four times.

Trudy Busch Valentine is one of his 11 children. She’s bold in her own way. She’s running for U.S. Senate without political experience beyond growing up in an enormous, wealthy family that was, for a memorable era, the monarchy of Cardinals Nation. ...

“I am the woman who is going to stop Eric Schmitt from reaching the United States Senate,” she said, prompting some applause.

Schmitt, 47, is expected to win the general election. As Missouri’s Republican attorney general, he tapped into Donald Trump’s far-right base, alarming others along the way who first knew Schmitt as a moderate state senator from Glendale.

Valentine criticized Schmitt for “peddling conspiracy theories” about the 2020 election for political gain, for exploiting his law enforcement position by filing lawsuits against public school districts to deflect mask mandates.

Schmitt says he’s willing to take heat fighting for what’s right. To the delight of his own loyal followers, he calls Valentine “a billionaire heiress,” who is trying to buy an election from the peasantry. ...

The Roman Catholic mother of six vowed to fight for better access to affordable health care, primarily a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion. Though her eldest son died from an opioid overdose in 2020, she supports the legalization of marijuana, partly because it could bring added revenue streams for mental health treatment. ...

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