Missouri voters split on Josh Hawley as he runs for 2024 reelection, new poll shows

Missouri voters appear almost evenly split on Republican Sen. Josh Hawley as he mounts a reelection campaign in 2024, according to a new poll.

The poll released Wednesday by Saint Louis University and British pollster YouGov found that 47% of those surveyed approved or strongly approved of Hawley, compared to 45% that disapprove or strongly disapprove of his job performance.

A small fraction — 8% — said they were not sure, illustrating that few people are neutral on the polarizing Republican senator in the Show-Me State. Hawley was the first senator to announce plans to object to the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election and was photographed pumping his fist at a crowd outside the Capitol shortly before the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

For comparison, a significant percentage of Missouri voters are still unsure of how they feel about Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt, the state’s junior senator who was sworn into office in January. While a plurality of 42% approved or strongly approved of Schmitt, 20% were not sure. The poll found that 38% of voters disapproved or strongly disapproved of Schmitt.

The survey of 900 likely Missouri voters was conducted between July 27 and Aug. 8. It has a margin of error of 4.02%. The poll also asked voters to weigh in on a host of other issues, including LGBTQ rights and teacher salaries.

Hawley’s approval ratings have remained relatively stable since the most recent Missouri poll released in March, which found that 47% approved or strongly approved of the state’s senior senator while 44% disapproved or strongly disapproved.

The Republican senator’s approval ratings peaked around 50% in July 2021 and have fallen slightly since then, Steve Rogers, an associate professor of political science at Saint Louis University who directed the poll, told The Star after the release of the previous poll in March.

The release of the poll comes as a crowded field of Democrats are vying for a chance to take on Hawley in 2024. Former Marine Lucas Kunce, who lost a bid for U.S. Senate last year, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, state Sen. Karla May from St. Louis and Columbia community activist December Harmon are all seeking their party’s nomination.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will face an uphill battle in a general election in a state that has grown increasingly conservative.

Once considered a bellwether state, Republicans have a supermajority in both chambers of the General Assembly, control every statewide elected office in Jefferson City, and only two of Missouri’s 10 members of Congress are Democrats.