Strong support for Minneapolis rent control proposal, poll finds

Nearly half of Minneapolis voters support a ballot measure that would allow the city to regulate rent in private buildings, according to a new Minnesota Poll.

A little more than a third of likely voters said they oppose the rent control measure, and the rest said they had not made up their mind on the ballot question that voters will decide Nov. 2.

Black voters and young people between the ages of 18-34 were the most supportive of the rent control provision, the poll found. Voters with no college degree also were among the most likely to support the measure.

Voters identifying as Republican overwhelmingly rejected the idea, with just 11% saying they support giving the City Council authority to regulate rents. Half of Democrats said they support the measure.

The poll found that 15% of voters said they were undecided. For the ballot proposal to pass, it must be approved by 51% of people voting on that question.

The poll, conducted Sept. 9 and 13, was sponsored by the Star Tribune, KARE, MPR and Frontline.

Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy, Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., surveyed 800 registered Minneapolis voters by phone who indicated they were likely to vote in the November city election. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The poll surveyed an additional 343 Black voters in Minneapolis who indicated they are likely to vote in November, for a total of 500 interviews with a sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. This "oversample" allows for a more direct comparison of the responses of white and Black voters, with similar margins of sampling error.

Susan Du • 612-673-4028