Senator Mark Dayton
A new Minnesota Public Radio News/Humphrey Institute poll shows former Sen. Mark Dayton with a wide lead over his two competitors in the DFL gubernatorial primary. Thepoll also found that if the general election were held right now, Dayton might have a slight edge, but it would be a toss-up regardless of which Democrat takes on Republican Tom Emmer.
The poll of 701 Minnesota adults last Thursday through Sunday shows former Senator Dayton is the favorite among likely DFL primary voters by a 10-point margin — 38 percent to 28 percent over House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Dayton, Kelliher and former state Rep. Matt Entenza are competing for the DFL spot on the general election ballot. Entenza received just 6 percent support in the poll. Whoever wins the August DFL primary will face Emmer in the November election.
Kelliher received the Democratic Farmer Labor Party endorsement last month. Dayton did not seek it and DFL party leaders barred him from the state convention. But Dayton is getting more support from Democrats.
Kelliher has campaigned aggressively on the notion that she could become Minnesota’s first woman governor. If the match-up numbers against Dayton are troubling for Kelliher, the good news for her campaign is that 28 percent of likely DFL primary voters are undecided.
When it comes to the general election, the poll suggests that Dayton is the only Democrat who would win against Emmer. But Dayton would win by just 4 percentage points, well within the poll’s 5.8 percentage point margin of error. Thepoll shows Emmer beating Kelliher or Entenza, but not by enough to be statistically significant.
While Tom Emmer has no primary battle on the Republican side, the poll indicates he faces a challenge in uniting the GOP behind him. A third of the Republicans who responded to the poll said they were either undecided, supporting a Democrat or backing the Independence Party-endorsed candidate Tom Horner.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty is leaving office after his second term ends this year. His approval rating dropped to 43 percent, a near historic low.
This story is courtesy of our
news partner, Minnesota Public
Radio. Minnesota Public Radio News
can be heard in Grand Marais on
89.7 FM or online at MPRnewsQ.org.
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