P-D Poll: Nixon Holds 9-point Lead Over Blunt

If the election were held today, Attorney General Jay Nixon certainly wouldn't defeat Governor Matt Blunt by 9 points.

Would he? Nah.

That margin is doubtful in a state like Missouri. But new numbers from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch mean Blunt probably is behind in his re-election battle..

Nixon 51%

Blunt 42%

Gov. Matt Blunt's handling of Medicaid is dragging down his re-election bid, according to poll results released Monday.

Research 2000 conducted the poll last week for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV. It shows 51 percent of respondents favored Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon for governor, compared to 42 percent for Blunt, the Republican incumbent. The two likely will square off in the election next November.

The survey of 800 likely Missouri voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Shortly after taking office in 2005, Blunt and the Legislature overhauled Medicaid, the state's system of providing health care for needy people, resulting in the reduction of about 92,000 people from the Medicaid rolls.