The new Rasmussen poll of the Minnesota gubernatorial race gives the Democratic nominee, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, a substantial lead over Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer and Independence Party candidate Tom Horner, coming on the heels of Dayton’s narrow win in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
The numbers: Dayton 45%, Emmer 36%, and Horner 10%. The survey of likely voters has a ±4% margin of error. In the previous poll from three and a half weeks ago, Dayton led Emmer and Horner by 40%-36%-10%. The TPM Poll Average gives Dayton a lead of 44.2%-33.6%-9.9%
The poll shows that Dayton, who defeated the state party convention’s official choice of state House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher by less than one point — with the help of some self-financing on his own part — has solid favorable ratings at 53% favorable to 43% unfavorable. By contrast, Emmer is at only 40%-50%, probably thanks to extensive press coverage of some gaffes and right-wing positions. Horner, a former moderate Republican, is at 35%-36%.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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