GOP launches online poll for senate candidate
Republicans won’t have to wait until August to let the party know who they want to run for Missouri’s open senate seat this year.
In fact, they might not even have to leave their homes.
A coalition of conservative groups from across the state has set up an online poll of 16 candidates from four political parties (including Democrats) who are vying for the seat.
The results of the ongoing poll, as posted on the Web site, as of 10:35 pm CST Thursday:
Note: “Rep.” signifies “Republican,” not “representative”
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Davis Conway Rep. (28%, 304 Votes)
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Roy Blunt - Rep. (27%, 285 Votes)
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Chuck Purgason Rep. (24%, 256 Votes)
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Jonathan Dine Libertarian (9%, 91 Votes)
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Still Undecided (5%, 57 Votes)
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Robin Carnahan Democrat (2%, 22 Votes)
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James H. Schmidt Rep. (2%, 17 Votes)
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Cisse Spragins Libertarian (1%, 12 Votes)
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Jerry Beck - Constitution (1%, 9 Votes)
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Hector Maldonado Rep. (0%, 5 Votes)
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Mike Simmons - Constitution (0%, 4 Votes)
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Kristi Nichols Rep. (0%, 3 Votes)
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Joe Martellaro Constitution (0%, 1 Votes)
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Deborah Solomon Rep. (0%, 1 Votes)
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Mike Vontz Rep. (0%, 1 Votes)
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Francis J. Vangeli Democrat (0%, 0 Votes)
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R. L. Praprotnik Rep. (1%, 0 Votes)
Blunt, currently representing southwest Missouri in the U.S. House, is widely assumed to be party’s presumptive nominee. Republican Kit Bond, who currently holds the seat, has endorsed Blunt for the fall race.
Blunt has such an advantage in terms of his war chest and statewide name recognition that most national polls only match up him and Democrat Robin Carnahan, the leading candidate on the Democratic side.
Chuck Purgason is a Missouri State Senator from Caulfield, in the southern part of the state. Davis Conway owns an electrical contracting business in St. Peters. On his Web site, Conway criticizes both Republicans and Democrats, claiming to be a member of an “X Party,” ostensibly a third party. But Conway, who appears to be libertarian, also says he doesn’t want to form an official third party.