SEDALIA, Mo. — U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt was cautious when asked his thoughts on Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s tenure thus far as governor, as Nixon mulls his own political future that could make Blunt his target.

“I’ve known the governor for a long time. We have a good relationship. We have worked together well. I’m not really in the business of evaluating how other elected officials are doing,” Blunt said during an interview at the Governor’s Ham Breakfast during the Missouri State Fair last week. “The legislature and the governor have some big obstacles and they need to work together to meet their challenges.”

Nixon, who will be termed out in 2016, has been characteristically coy about his future plans, but his recent moves to the left on health care and tax policy coupled with his more aggressive demeanor could be indicative of something on the horizon – perhaps even a U.S. Senate bid in 2016, when Blunt is up for reelection.

Nixon and Blunt have been on the Missouri political stage together for nearly three decades. Blunt was around for both of Nixon’s unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaigns, against Sen. John Danforth in 1988 and against Blunt’s predecessor Kit Bond in 1998.

Nixon’s approval rating ranks among the highest for governors nationally, but a lunge from state executive politics to national legislative politics would certainly be a challenge, particularly when raising money – something Blunt and Nixon have proved to be good at, but under different rules and regulations.