New poll results for Missouri Senate race signal alarming possibilities for GOP: report

New poll results may serve as validation for top-ranking Senate Republicans' concerns about former Gov. Eric Greitens' (R) ability to win a Senate race.

According to Politico, the newly-released poll results indicate that Greitens might only secure an estimated 42.2 percent of the vote in a head-to-head race against Democratic Senate candidate Lucas Kunce, with 38.3 percent, while approximately 19.5 percent remain undecided.

While Greitens is projected to have a small lead over Kunce, Politico reports: "Greitens’ 4-point lead in the hypothetical matchup, just outside the poll’s margin of error, is a sign that the former governor’s baggage could turn off conservative and independent voters in a state that former President Donald Trump won by 16 percentage points in 2020."

With nearly 20 percent of voters undecided, it appears Republicans are not in a safe zone to be confident the election will be favorable for their party. Because of this, top-ranking Republicans in Missouri leadership are already expressing concern about the party losing the race if Greitens becomes the front-running candidate.

Greitens' past is likely one of the significant hindrances for his Senate campaign. The disgraced former Republican governor's decision to enter the Senate race comes after his resignation around the time of the 2018 mid-term election. A series of controversies contributed to the demise of his political career.

At the time of the 2018 mid-terms, Greitens was investigatied by former Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley for his "use of a charity’s donor list to solicit campaign funds." The investigative findings were later transferred to a St. Louis, Mo., prosecutor and Greitens was subsequently hit with a charge for computer tampering.

As part of a plea deal, Greitens agreed to resign from the governor's office. However, that was only one incident. Prior to that debacle, Greitens was indicted for invasion of privacy after he allegedly snapped "an unauthorized nude photo of his hairstylist while sexually assaulting her in his basement in 2015."

Greitens admitted that he'd been involved in an extramarital affair with the victim but argued that their entanglement was consensual. Although the charges were ultimately dropped, the Missouri legislators' report indicated that "a special committee and found the woman making the allegations to be credible."