Missouri
Missouri poll shows no clear front-runner in GOP governor race
ST. LOUIS — An overwhelming majority of registered voters don’t know who they’ll support in the Missouri gubernatorial race to succeed Governor Mike Parson. The statewide poll is released a little more than six weeks ahead of the August 6th Missouri primary.
The new Emerson College Polling/The Hill/Missouri Nexstar poll shows a tight, two-person race for the Republican nomination for Missouri governor, plus much more, from the presidential race to the issues of sports betting and abortion access.
The Missouri Governor’s Race
The first thing that jumps out of the poll is the Republican Missouri Governor primary race. No candidate tops 25% among likely Republican voters. 46% are undecided, double the top two candidates combined.
A poll finds 23% of voters support Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, 20% support Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe, and 6% support State Senator Bill Eigel.
Emerson College Polling’s Senior Director, Matt Taglia, says it looks like a two-person race to the finish between Ashcroft and Kehoe.
“Ashcroft is leading among younger voters. Kehoe is leading with older voters. If I’m a Republican primary candidate, that’s something I absolutely want to see. These are high-likelihood, high-propensity voters, so that’s a very good sign for Kehoe’s campaign,” Taglia told Fox 2 News.
The full breakdown of support for candidates on the Republican ballot is as follows:
- Undecided – 45.8%
- John (Jay) R. Ashcroft – 22.5%
- Mike Kehoe – 19.6%
- Bill Eigel – 5.9%
- Robert J. Olson – 1.7%
- Chris Wright – 1.4%
- Amber Thomsen – 1.3%
- Darrell L. McClanahan III – 1.3%
- Jeremy Gundel – 0.4%
- Darren L. Grant – 0.1%
Biden vs. Trump
Ahead of next Thursday’s debate between President Biden and former President Trump, the poll points to a third straight election victory for Mr. Trump in Missouri. Mr. Biden’s statewide approval rating is just 32%.
Trump leads Biden by about 13% in a head-to-head matchup. The lead expands to more than 15% in a five-candidate race with Robert Kennedy, Cornell West, and Jill Stein. 36% say Mr. Trump’s recent felony convictions in New York will have no impact on their vote and 33% say they are less likely to vote for him now.
“As things stand right now, this is not a competitive state for President Biden,” Taglia said.
Missouri Senate Race
He called Missouri’s U.S. Senate race between likely nominees, Republican incumbent Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce, “Hawley’s race to lose”. Hawley has a 9% lead.
The economy is the top issue for Missouri voters, with 34% abortion access is second, at 12%. The 12% is significant and may impact the U.S. Senate race, according to Taglia.
“Seeing abortion in second place, I think, says something. There is the potential that it influences races further up the ballot,” he said.
Sports issues
The poll also looks at big sports issues. Voters polled are slightly in favor of legalized sports betting (38%–35%), which is also within the margin of error. Plus, 26% are undecided.
“I think that there’s some messaging work to do here if you’re on the side of passing sports betting in Missouri. I don’t think folks necessarily know what all it entails but a lot of them are, in principle, supportive of the idea,” Taglia said.
Finally, amid talk of the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals moving across the state line and into Kansas after voters shot down stadium measures in April, 46% say it’s “very important” and nearly 17% say it’s “somewhat important” (63% total) to keep the Chiefs in Missouri.
When it comes to the Royals, 38% say “very important”, 20% ‘say’somewhat’ (58% total).
Emerson College Polling, The Hill, and Nexstar Missouri conducted this poll. Review our methodology and data here. The surveys were conducted on June 17–19, 2024. The sample consisted of n = 1000 registered voters, with a credibility interval of +/-3%. The sample of likely Republican primary voters consists of a sample of 489, with a credibility interval of +/-4.4%.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A man is dead after an argument inside a south Kansas City home escalated into a shooting overnight, police say.
The Kansas City Police Department says it responded to the 11500 block of Belmont Ave. just before 1 a.m. on Sunday, June 21, after reports of a shooting.
Officers indicate that they arrived to find an unresponsive man inside a vehicle parked in front of a residence. They rendered aid until EMS arrived and took over.
However, the victim was later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to authorities.
Investigators say the victim was inside the home when an argument broke out with one or more people. The confrontation continued as he left the home and got into a vehicle – where he was shot.
One person of interest was detained at the scene. Detectives note that they are not looking for any additional suspects at this time.
The shooting is the latest instance of violence in Kansas City on the first official weekend of summer. On Friday night, one person died and five others were injured in a shooting on 19th Street between Paseo and Vine.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — “It’s difficult to call the Battle Line Rivalry a true rivalry when Arkansas has won just twice since Missouri joined the SEC.”
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz has made this one matter even more for the Tigers during his time in Columbia due to his Natural State roots.
The Alma native is 5-1 against his home-state with three victories coming by seven points or less.
Silverfield has watched the Razorbacks from just across the river in Memphis, and has noticed a pattern in most of the losses over the years. Turnovers have been a major issue in this series through the years.
Whether it was the Alex Collins fumble in 2014, a blown 24-7 halftime lead in 2016, a 48-45 shootout loss in 2017, allowing Missouri to drive 60 yards in 43 seconds for a walk-off field goal by Harrison Mevis in 2020, or letting Brady Cook sprint 30 yards untouched during the Snowmaggedon game in 2024, the Razorbacks have been allergic to holding onto fourth quarter leads against the Tigers.
The biggest curse of all was Arkansas’ game against Missouri was scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend, which effectively replaced the Battle of the Golden Boot against LSU. Despite not playing on an annual basis prior to joining the SEC, this game became quite the underrated rivalry not only in the SEC, but nationally with eight games coming down to the final possession from 2005-2013.
Talent Advantage: Missouri
When it comes to talent on the field, this might be Drinkwitz’s deepest team since his arrival at Missouri in 2020. The Tigers have a total of 43 former 4-star prospects and 25 who were rated as 3-stars during their recruitment, according to the Razorbacks on SI offseason Tracker.
Between Austin Simmons at quarterback, Ahmad Hardy in the backfield, Ben Norfleet at tight end and wide receiver Donovan Olugbode there is plenty of firepower to create mismatches in space. Then, Missouri’s defense is fairly deep with linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez, safety Santana Banner and defensive lineman Darris Smith.
The Tigers can bring the heat to opposing backfields, field a standout secondary and always seem to have instinctive, hard hitting linebackers. Drinkwitz’s best year came in 2023 with an 11-3 overall record but have yet to officially breakthrough in the SEC.
And with this roster, it’s either time for the Tigers to solidify its place among SEC brethren in 2026 season, or continue its slow path back to mediocrity within the league.
A talent advantage alone won’t always win teams ball games, but one that plays disciplined and understands how to control momentum throughout a game can find ways to win.
The Razorbacks have held the talent edge several times over the years, but still suffered defeat in 2016, 2017 and 2022. Since Missouri joined the SEC, their teams have played with confidence that kept them in games they had no business winning.
Former National Championship winning coach Urban Meyer once said, “Leave no doubt” when it comes to winning at the Power Conference level. Maybe it’s Arkansas’ turn to have a coach whose players are ready to run through a wall for in Silverfield this fall.
The Silverfield Mindset
There’s something to be said about a coach who can motivate his team for the biggest of challenges and overcoming talent deficiencies.
Any team can have the Jimmys and Joes but it all comes down to execution, and that’s something that Arkansas has struggled with over the past several years. Silverfield believes a lot of Arkansas’ struggles came down to a culture of losing, which is something he’ll have to cleanse it of this offseason.
“We’ve had one Power Four win at home the last three years,” Silverfield said in an appearance on McElroy And Cubelic In The Morning radio show earlier this spring. “We have to play more disciplined football. Arkansas has not done a great job with penalties, pre-snap, post-snap, dead ball. Taking care of the football, ball security. That’s been part of some of the failures here.”
Silverfield understands Arkansas’ quickest path to improvement begins with eliminating self-inflicted mistakes. After all, the program is just 17-49 in one possession games since 2012.
Arkansas was close last season to being a very good team last year, but weren’t able to do the small things needed to win games.
The Razorbacks finished last season ranked No. 125 in turnover margin (-11), No. 121 in third down defense (45%), No. 99 in sacks allowed, No. 126 in penalties (7.8 per game) and No. 112 in total penalties showed that a change in leadership was sorely needed.
And the truth is, the Razorbacks might’ve found the right man for the job going into 2026. Arkansas has been close time and time again.
With this game being played on Halloween this fall, it’s possible Arkansas can practice its Houdini act and put the struggles against Missouri behind them once and for all.
Hogs on SI Season Preview Series
North Alabama: Why Week One Matters More Than It Should
Utah: Silverfield Doesn’t Know What Razorbacks Are, Utes Will Provide Answers
Georgia: Razorbacks Might Not Beat Georgia, But Offer Test Kirby Smart Didn’t Expect
Texas A&M: Can Hogs’ Rebuilt Defense Slow Down Marcel Reed?
Tennessee: Razorbacks Must Reclaim Homefield Advantage Against Tennessee
Vanderbilt: Arkansas Might Be Catching Vanderbilt at Right Time in 2026
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