A KMBC 9 News/Kansas City Star poll shows Republican Matt Blunt with a slight lead over Claire McCaskill in the race for Missouri governor.

The poll of 600 likely Missouri voters has a margin of error of 4 points, which means that Blunt's lead is within this survey's margin of error.

One day before Blunt begins his last big swing through rival McCaskill's home turf of Jackson County, he has a slim lead.

Blunt is at 47 percent while McCaskill is at 44 percent. About 9 percent are still undecided. The person who takes this race will likely be the one who can convince voters that he or she can best deal with the Missouri school budget.

In the survey, school funding was called the state's most critical problem by 40 percent of those surveyed. Other issues didn't even come close to ranking that important.

One of Blunt's central campaign issues -- tort reform -- did not seem to move many voters. Only 9 percent called it the most critical state issue.

McCaskill has been trying to convince voters she's the more experienced candidate but only 18 percent of voters said that's an important issue for them.

In the race for lieutenant governor, Democrat Becky Cook holds an 8-point lead over her rival, Republican Sen. Peter Kinder. Twenty percent are undecided or prefer someone else. That's a huge number for the campaign's final week.

Democrat Robin Carnahan leads Republican Katheryn Hanway in the race to replace Blunt as secretary of state.

In Kansas, incumbent Republican Sen. Sam Brownback holds a giant 39-point lead over Democrat Lee Jones. According to the survey, almost 3 out 4 voters don't even know Brownback has an opponent.

Another poll that's out in the Missouri governor's race gives Blunt an 8-point lead.