Star Tribune, MPR News Minnesota Poll senate races between Tina Smith, Karin Housley, Amy Klobuchar, Jim Newberger

September 19, 2018 at 10:30PM
(Dave Braunger/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Star Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio News polled 800 Minnesota likely voters between Sept. 10 and Sept. 12. Highlights from questions about the U.S. Senate races are below. Scroll down the page to see details about how the poll was conducted and the demographics of the 800 respondents. "Other" candidates in Smith/Housley race are Sarah Wellington (Legal Marijuana Now) and Jerry Trooien (unaffiliated) each at 2 percent. "Other" candidates in the Klobuchar/Newberger race are Dennis Schuller (Legal Marijuana Now) at 3 percent, and Paula Overby (Green Party) at 1 percent.

If the 2018 special election for U.S. senator were held today, would you vote for...?

Tina Smith
(DFL) Karin Housley
(Republican) Other Undecided 44% 37% 4% 15% Tina
Smith Karin
Housley Other Undecided Men 39% 43% 3% 15% Women 49 32 4 15 Democrats 91 0 0 9 Republicans 0 87 1 12 Independents / other 32 33 9 26 18-34 64 16 3 17 35-49 41 38 6 15 50-64 39 45 3 13 64+ 39 43 2 16 Under $50,000 44 38 3 15 $50,000 and over 42 41 3 14 Hennepin / Ramsey 55 30 3 12 Metro Suburbs 37 42 4 17 Southern Minn. 41 35 4 20 Northern Minn. 39 43 4 14 Which one of the following issues is most important to you in your vote for senator?

All voters Smith voters Housley voters Undecided voters Healthcare 30% 39% 21% 27% The Economy & Jobs 15 10 21 18 Immigration 12 4 22 12 Russian Collusion & Removing Trump 12 23 1 7 Supreme Court Appointments 9 10 9 7 National Security & Foreign Policy Issues 6 2 9 7 Taxes 6 2 8 8 Gun Rights & Gun Control 5 5 6 7 Abortion 4 4 2 5 Not Sure 1 1 1 2 Do you recognize the name ______? (IF YES) Do you have a favorable, unfavorable or neutral opinion of ______?

Tina Smith Karin Housley Recognize Favorable 32% 18% Recognize Unfavorable 19 8 Recognize Neutral 23 27 Don't Recognize 26 47 U.S. SENATE GENERAL ELECTION

If the 2018 general election for U.S. senator were held today, would you vote for...?

Amy Klobuchar
(DFL) Jim Newberger
(Republican) Other Undecided 60% 30% 4% 6% Amy
Klobuchar Jim
Newberger Other Undecided Men 54% 34% 5% 7% Women 66 26 3 5 Democrats 97 0 1 2 Republicans 17 73 1 9 Independents / other 59 23 11 7 18-34 75 16 4 5 35-49 57 29 6 8 50-64 59 33 3 5 64+ 55 36 4 5 Under $50,000 58 32 4 6 $50,000 and over 59 31 4 6 Hennepin / Ramsey 69 25 2 4 Metro Suburbs 51 35 8 6 Southern Minn. 66 25 3 6 Northern Minn. 55 34 3 8 Which one of the following issues is most important to you in your vote for senator?

All voters Klobuchar voters Newberger voters Undecided voters Healthcare 30% 37% 19% 17% The Economy & Jobs 15 14 18 15 Immigration 12 5 24 24 Russian Collusion & Removing Trump 12 19 1 4 Supreme Court Appointments 9 9 8 9 National Security & Foreign Policy Issues 6 3 11 11 Taxes 6 4 8 9 Gun Rights & Gun Control 5 5 7 7 Abortion 4 3 3 4 Not Sure 1 1 1 - Do you recognize the name ______? (IF YES) Do you have a favorable, unfavorable or neutral opinion of ______?

Amy Klobuchar Jim Newberger Recognize Favorable 56% 19% Recognize Unfavorable 19 2 Recognize Neutral 24 15 Don't Recognize 1 76 About the poll

This Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota Poll findings are based on interviews conducted Sept. 10-12 with 800 Minnesota likely voters. The interviews were conducted via land line (60 percent) and cellphone (40 percent). The poll was conducted for the Star Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio News by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc. Results of a poll based on 800 interviews will vary by no more than 3.5 percentage points, plus or minus, from the overall population 95 times out of 100. Margins are larger for groups within the sample, such as Democrats and Republicans, and age groups.

The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents is 37 percent Democrats, 31 percent Republicans and 32 percent independents or other.

Sampling error does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion surveys, such as nonresponse, question wording or context effects. In addition, news events may have affected opinions during the period the poll was taken.

Readers can e-mail questions to djmcgrath@startribune.com.

Demographic breakdown of this polling sample

PARTY DFL/Democrat 299 (37%) Republican 246 (31%) Independent/Other 255 (32%) AGE 18-34 152 (19%) 35-49 200 (25%) 50-64 226 (28%) 65+ 216 (27%) Refused 6 (1%) GENDER Male 377 (47%) Female 423 (53%) INCOME < $25,000 84 (10%) $25,000-$49,999 127 (16%) $50,000-$74,999 130 (16%) $75,000-$99,999 121 (15%) $100,000+ 125 (16%) Refused 213 (27%) REGION Hennepin/Ramsey 255 (32%) Metro Suburbs 230 (29%) Southern Minnesota 160 (20%) Northern Minnesota 155 (19%) INTERVIEW Land-line 483 (60%) Cell Phone 317 (40%)

about the writer

about the writer

Dennis J. McGrath

Dennis J. McGrath is a retired Star Tribune editor.

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