There are signs that the effort to weaken Greitens is working. Once seen as the front-runner in the race, the former governor has sunk into third place in recent polls and has been replaced at the front of the pack by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.

“What you’ve seen here is really a challenge of trying to beat [Greitens] down,” one Republican strategist involved in the Missouri Senate race said. “Equally to what we’ve seen with Greitens getting knocked down to around that 20 point range is the massive rise of Schmitt. And that combination is what’s really changed the outcome of the race so far.”

One survey released last week by The Hill and Emerson College showed Greitens running 17 points behind Schmitt and 5 points behind Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) in the primary. That’s a staggering change from the same poll conducted in June that found Greitens leading Schmitt by 6 points.

Greitens, who resigned as governor amid scandal only 1 1/2 years into his first term, has brushed off his recent polling deficit, calling the surveys “fake” and accusing his opponents of pushing out inaccurate data in an effort to weaken him. He has also compared the attacks against him to those faced by former President Trump, calling the allegations false.