New poll shows Luetkemeyer leading in SD 34 race, Roberts calls it ‘another attempt to distract from the fact that he is losing’

By Benjamin Peters on July 18, 2018

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – New polling conducted in the race to replace the term-limited Senator Rob Schaaf shows political newcomer Tony Luetkemeyer with a 9-point-lead in the race, but the largest margins indicate either candidate could walk away the victor in the August primary, with 35 percent of voters polled stating that they were undecided on which candidate to vote for.

Buchanan County Commissioner Harry Roberts and attorney Tony Luetkemeyer both hope to claim the nomination in August, and Luetkemeyer has been the frontrunner in terms of money, with his last filing showing he had raised $398k in the election so far. Roberts’ tally came in at roughly $186k.

Senate District 34: Race to replace Schaaf heating up

But Roberts has increased his intake in recent weeks, raising $85,910.41 in the last three months and now has $146,692.66 cash on hand. Luetkemeyer raised $53,091.43 and has $348,680.58 cash on hand.

Between April, May, and June, Roberts spent $84,398.45 on the campaign and Luetkemeyer spent $82,370.09.

Both candidates are in a position to walk away with a win, with such a large undecided vote, according to the polling, and both camps are confident in the campaigns they have run so far.

“I am proud of the momentum our campaign has been able to grow over the past few months,” Luetkemeyer said. “Voters here in our district know we need to elect a candidate who will fight for lower our taxes, safer streets, less government, and better jobs. We need an outsider to shake up the status quo and bring the conservative change needed to our government. I look forward to continuing our hard work and winning this election.”

Regarding the poll, Roberts had this to say:

“This fake ‘poll’ is yet another attempt by a big city lawyer to distract from the fact that he is losing and needed $250k in dark money from Washington, D.C. to boost his campaign. Our campaign polling data and our most recent fundraising numbers show us Mr. Luetkemeyer is running a losing campaign. In addition, the polling company is owned by the same political consulting firm helping both Luetkemeyer and the pro-Luetkemeyer dark money PAC.”

Read the poll results below: