Post-Primary: Todd Akin The Biggest Surprise & Jay Nixon Would Win In November

If the November election was held today, a majority of political insiders polled in Missouri, both Democrats and Republicans agreed that Gov. Jay Nixon would win a second term over St. Louis businessman Dave Spence.

That was one of the main results of a non-scientific survey of Patch's Red Arch/Blue Arch panelists, taken between Aug. 8 and Aug. 11, after last week's primary elections. A total of 29 responses came in from members of each party using an automated survey tool.

When asked about the governor's race, 96.6 percent of Democrats said Nixon would win if the election were held today, while 37.9 percent of Republicans went with Spence in the matchup.

 win in a spirited GOP primary fight to face Claire McCaskill for Missouri's U.S. Senate was far and away the biggest primary elections surprise, according to 62 percent of the Democrats and 51 percent of the Republicans polled.

Given the "if the election were held today" question in an Akin-McCaskill matchup, 89.6 percent of Republicans chose Akin, while 72.2 percent of Democrats went with McCaskill.

When Republicans were asked:  'Which candidate will have the toughest time bringing their primary opponents and supporters into the fold,' 50 percent said it would be Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who fought off a challenge from State Senator Brad Lager despite a series of bad headlines over the past year related to 

"Many voters that supported Lager supported him because of Kinder's past personal choices. That sentiment won't change now," one participant wrote.

Another cited what they called Kinder's "outrageous past and his lack of acknowledging that he did any wrong in as far as the taxpayer's dollar was concerned. Just because he paid the funds back doesn't imply that it was okay!"

Kinder will face Democrat Susan Montee in November's general election.

Twenty-one point four of respondents said Dave Spence would have a tough time rallying his opponents, while 7.1 percent each mentioned  and State Representative Shane Schoeller, who won the primary campaign to run for Secretary of State.

What do you think of the post-primary landscape in Missouri? Tell us in the comment section.