Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has a slight edge over leading Democrats in the race for Missouri’s Electoral College Votes. Not only that, he runs a bit stronger than former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani when matched against those same Democrats.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds Huckabee with a 45% to 43% advantage over New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Huckabee also leads Illinois Senator Barack Obama 45% to 41%.

While Huckabee has a slight advantage over the Democrats, another Republican hopeful finds himself at a slight disadvantage. Giuliani now trails Clinton by six points, 45% to 39%. In October, Missouri voters gave Giuliani a narrow lead over Clinton.

Giuliani now lags Obama by just a single percentage point after leading Obama by five in October.

Huckabee is viewed favorably by 53% of Missouri voters and unfavorably by 36%. Obama is viewed favorably by 52%, Clinton by 51%, and Giuliani by 45%.

Reflecting the apparently greater fluidity of the GOP contest, just 27% say Rudy Giuliani is most likely to win the GOP nomination, 21% say Huckabee, 13% say Romney. (Rasmussen Reports has outlined how each of five leading GOP candidates could plausibly wind his way to the nomination.) But 50% believe Hillary Clinton is most likely to win the Democratic nomination, and 26% name Barack Obama. Garnering only 8% of the votes of confidence is Senator John Edwards.

Twenty-six percent (26%), a plurality, say the Economy will be the most important issue affecting their vote in 2008. Nineteen percent (19%) say the War in Iraq, 14% say the War on Terror, 14% say Health Care, 11% say Immigration.

Missouri's incumbent chief executive, the Republican Matt Blunt (son of Congressman Roy Blunt), is in political trouble in part because of Medicaid cuts during his administration. He faces stiff competition from Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon.

The Rasmussen Reports poll finds Nixon with a 47% to 42% advantage over the incumbent. Nixon has a 19-point lead with unaffiliated voters and attracts twice as many moderates. In October, Blunt led by a point, after having trailed by three points in the previous survey.

Just 41% of Missouri voters think the governor is doing a Good (27%) or Excellent (14%) job. The rest are split between those who think he's doing a Fair job (26%) or a Poor job (32%).

Still, those numbers look good alongside the President’s report card in the state—48% of Missouri voters say that President George W. Bush is doing a Poor job.

The survey was conducted in partnership with Fox Television Stations, Inc.

See survey questions and top-line results. Crosstabs available for Premium Members only.