The midterm elections are now just two days away, and the results from a final round of polling in Minnesota are in.
The polls, however, have a substantial margin of error of +/- 5.3 percent, making the KSTP and Survey USA polling of the Minnesota attorney general race essentially inconclusive. According to the poll, Democrat Keith Ellison now leads Republican Doug Wardlow 44 percent to 40 percent—well within the poll’s margin of error.
Additionally, 12 percent of respondents said they are still undecided, and could end up withholding a vote in the race as some younger voters are doing.
“Some people chose not to vote for that part of the ballot,” University of Minnesota student Brian Rosas told KSTP. “I’ve met a lot of people who are choosing to do that, instead of voting for either one of them.”
His sentiments echo those of The Star Tribune, which declined to endorse either candidate after finding both of them to be “too partisan” for the office.
Muddling the attorney general’s race even further was a recent Star Tribune poll that had Wardlow leading by seven points, and as Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey points out, the outlet’s polls aren’t “exactly known for erring on the side of the GOP.”
“It’s a very competitive race, and these two candidates are almost as far apart as you could be on the issues,” University of Minnesota political science professor Kathryn Pearson said. “I think anything could happen on election night.”
In Minnesota’s gubernatorial race, Democrat Tim Walz leads Republican Jeff Johnson 49 percent to 41 percent with a margin of error of +/-5.3 percent, which is similar to what most polls have been showing.
Nine percent of voters, however, are still undecided, which is more than enough for Johnson to move the needle in his favor.
“There’s significant undecideds, so this is still a competitive race,” Carleton College political analyst told KSTP. “The basic dynamics haven’t really changed.”
On the issues, 68 percent of voters who ranked health care as their top concern favor Walz in the election, while 52 percent who prioritize “jobs and the economy” prefer Johnson, who also got the support of 73 percent of voters on taxes.
“I’ve talked to tens of thousands of Minnesotans in the last few months and feel great about where we stand in the race for governor,” Johnson said, noting that “the polls all said” he was “going to lose big in the August primary.”
“But we won by nine points. Based on what I’m hearing on the trail, things look good,” he added.
Walz stated he was “heartened that Minnesotans are hearing our message,” but said “there is much work to do.”
“We know that Minnesotans listen carefully to the candidates and make up their minds in the final days leading up to the election and we will work tirelessly to earn their support,” he continued.
Both polls were conducted between Oct. 29 and Oct. 31 and included with interviews with 1,000 Minnesotans, 600 of whom plan to vote.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
