Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her GOP rival Donald Trump are locked in a tight race in Missouri.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch telephone poll of 625 registered voters showed that Mrs. Clinton holds a razor-thin 41 percent to 40 percent lead over Mr. Trump, which is within the survey’s margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate, received support from 9 percent of those surveyed, and another 9 percent remain undecided.
Missouri is widely viewed as a must-win for Republicans in presidential elections.
Former President Bill Clinton, Mrs. Clinton’s husband, won the state in the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections, but Republicans have carried it since then.
In the survey released Friday, Mrs. Clinton has more support from members of her own party — with 87 percent of Democrats supporting her, compared to 79 percent of Republicans backing Mr. Trump.
Mr. Johnson siphoned off 11 percent of Republicans.
Mr. Trump has an 8-point edge over Mrs. Clinton among Independents.
Mrs. Clinton has a higher net favorability rating than Mr. Trump. She leads in the state’s biggest cities — Kansas City and St. Louis — and has a whopping 96 percent to 1 percent lead among black voters.
Mr. Trump is up in the more rural areas of the state and holds a 47 percent to 29 percent lead among white voters.
There also is a gender gap.
Mrs. Clinton has a 9-point lead among women, and Mr. Trump has a 9-point lead among men.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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