Sen. Blunt leads Democrat Kander in Missouri Senate race

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt led Tuesday night in his tough re-election battle with Democrat Jason Kander, though few votes were in from Democratic strongholds in the state's two urban areas.

About one-third of the vote was in by late evening, but most of it was from strong Republican areas in mostly rural parts of the state.

Experts were expecting a close race for Blunt, who never was seriously challenged in seven U.S. House races and in his 2010 Senate election.

The election was being watched closely nationally because control of the Senate could be at stake. Polls have indicated for months the race is a virtual toss-up. National senatorial committees for both parties and an array of political action committees and other groups have combined to spend millions of dollars on the Missouri race.

Jim Moore, 75, a retired management consultant from Chesterfield, said he voted for Kander because "we need to have a new voice in Washington representing Missouri."

Jason Kander

Mary Beck, a 61-year-old assistant nursing professor from Columbia, said she voted for Blunt because of his experience. She said it takes time to "have influence and to understand how to work with the other players at the U.S. Capitol."

Blunt, 66, was first elected to the House in 1996 and re-elected six times, winning by wide majorities each time. He defeated Democrat Robin Carnahan by a 54 percent to 41 percent vote in 2010.

Kander served two terms in the Missouri House before winning election as secretary of state in 2012.

Kander, Missouri's 35-year-old secretary of state, has run on the need for a new generation of leadership, often seeking to portray Blunt as a Washington insider with a wife and three children who are lobbyists. The Democrat also has played up his military experience as an Army intelligence officer in Afghanistan, most notably with a TV ad showing him putting together an assault rifle while blindfolded and daring Blunt to do the same.

Blunt has campaigned on such core believes as a need for more and better jobs and the elimination of unnecessary regulations and the Affordable Care Act. He also has criticized Kander's handling of election problems as secretary of state, including a ballot shortage at some St. Louis County precincts in the April election and a state legislative primary in St. Louis city in August that had to be redone because of absentee ballot concerns.