Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R), who resigned amid multiple scandals in 2018, is leading the race to become the GOP nominee to represent the state in the Senate, according to a new internal poll that his campaign shared with The Hill.
The poll found Greitens leading two members of Congress — Reps. Vicky Hartzler and Billy Long — as well as Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and gun activist Mark McCloskey, who went viral after images showed he and his wife holding guns in front of their St. Louis home in 2020.
More than a quarter of surveyed voters, 26 percent, said they prefer Greitens, while 19 percent favor Hartzler, 14 percent favor Schmitt, 7 percent said they back Long and 5 percent back McCloskey, according to the internal poll. About 27 percent of voters polled remain undecided.
Missouri’s Senate GOP primary will take place on Aug. 2. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) opted not to seek reelection this year after more than a decade in the Senate and 14 years in the House.
“Gov. Eric Greitens is the only America First candidate running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri,” Greitens campaign manager Dylan Johnson said in a statement to The Hill. “It’s clearer now than ever— even after failed, fake attacks from Mitch McConnell, Karl Rove, and George Soros— that Gov. Greitens will be the next United States Senator from Missouri.”
Greitens has run his campaign as a Trump-styled conservative and courted the former president’s blessing, though he hasn’t won a formal nod. Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancee, who advised the former president’s campaign, serves as national co-chair of Greitens’s campaign.
While polling in the Missouri race has been limited, Greitens has consistently been at or near the top, according to the RealClearPolitics polling index.
Greitens, a political newcomer before winning his gubernatorial bid, resigned from the office in 2018 as he faced sexual misconduct allegations and pressure from fellow Republicans to step down. More recently, he’s faced allegations of physical abuse from his ex-wife in an ongoing custody dispute. He has denied the allegations.
The latest survey of 806 likely primary voters was conducted May 2-4. The pollster, co/efficient, notes that 58 percent of respondents were surveyed via mobile text response and 42 percent through automated landline interviews. The poll has a margin of error of 3.48 percentage points.