Poll: DFLer Franken does best head-to-head against Coleman

Last update: February 14, 2008 - 8:04 PM

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A poll of Minnesota voters taken this week shows DFLer Al Franken running nearly even with Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman.

The poll, by SurveyUSA, features each of the DFL Party challengers in head-to-head contests against Coleman. Franken fared the best, getting 46 percent support to Coleman's 47 percent. Eight percent of respondents said they were undecided.

The results are within the poll's sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. The poll was conducted Monday and Tuesday for KSTP-TV and surveyed 650 registered voters.

In a race between Coleman and Mike Ciresi, the senator captured 51 percent support while Ciresi garnered 40 percent. Coleman's margin against Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer was 58 percent to 30 percent.

A fourth DFL candidate, Darryl Stanton, registered 29 percent against Coleman's 58 percent. Stanton only recently announced his entrance into the race and has kept a low profile since.

The poll showed that Coleman did well among men, voters younger than 50, and Independence Party members. The DFLers generally did better among women, older voters and self-described moderates.

Franken remained in much the same position as in a SurveyUSA poll taken last fall, when he received 45 percent to Coleman's 46 percent. That same poll showed Ciresi and Coleman neck-and-neck at 44 percent.

"All polls are snapshots in time, and we know that more will be taken," said Ciresi spokeswoman Leslie Sandberg.

KEVIN DUCHSCHERE

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