Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) holds a 4-point lead over Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) in Missouri’s nationally watched Senate race that’s playing out in Missouri, according to a survey by Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling released Sunday.
McCaskill claims the support of 48 percent of likely Missouri voters, while Akin trails with 44 percent — a two point uptick for the conservative GOP congressman since PPP’s last poll of the race two weeks ago. Libertarian candidate Jonathan Dine, a possible spoiler to Akin, earns the support of 6 percent, just as he did in the late-October poll.
Elected in 2006, McCaskill was widely identified as one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents this cycle. But Akin’s infamous “legitimate rape” remarks in August redefined the race, and gave McCaskill’s once-dim re-election hopes new life.
The tumultuous final three months of Akin’s campaign are reflected in the PollTracker Average, which currently shows McCaskill leading by almost 4 points.
PPP conducted it survey Nov. 2-3 using automated interviews with 835 likely Missouri voters. It has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
