JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The latest set of polling from a national media outlet once again shows U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill and Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley in a dead heat in their race for the 2018 U.S. Senate seat.
The CBS News 2018 Battleground Tracker Survey, conducted by YouGov, shows the two candidates tied at 45 percent each, compared to an NBC Marist poll released earlier this month which showed both candidates polling at 47 percent.
10 percent of the 1,104 registered voters polled said they would vote for someone else or were undecided. 51 percent of those polled said they have decided who they will vote for, while roughly 20 percent said they might change their votes.
The breakdown shows that 41 percent support their chosen candidate because of their stances on the issues, while 32 percent voted because of party lines. The other 27 percent said they would cast votes for their candidate because of their character.
The poll further broke it down, asking voters supporting one candidate if they would consider voting for the opponent.
While McCaskill had one point more say they would, the margin for Hawley of “not sure” votes (15 percent) was double that of McCaskill’s 7 percent.
The survey found voters felt McCaskill is better on the issue of healthcare, while Hawley fared better on the issues of immigration, crime, and gun policy.
The survey also found that voters felt that national issues and the direction of the country was more important in the coming election than local issues. (69 percent to 31 percent)
You can read the full survey below:
Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.