A new SurveyUSA/KSTP poll finds that Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken had an 18 percentage point advantage over Republican Mike McFadden, a larger lead than any previous poll.
According to the poll, 55 percent of people said they would vote for Franken and 37 said they would vote for McFadden. The poll, conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 2, surveyed 577 likely voters and had a 4.1 percentage point plus or minus margin of error.
It found that Franken's lead doubled from nine percent in the pollster's September survey.
The suddenly large lead had the McFadden campaign dismissing the results.
"Last night's KSTP/SurveyUSA poll on the Minnesota Senate race will undoubtedly be the talk of the state's political scene over the next few days, and for good reason – it conflicts with the other polls conducted over the same time period," McFadden campaign manager Carl Kuhl said in an email. "This memo will not argue that Mike McFadden is tied or within the margins of Senator Franken. We know we are trailing, but with the exception of SurveyUSA, polls show that McFadden is gaining on Senator Franken."
See the chart, from Real Clear Politics, for the trajectory of the polling results in the U.S. Senate race.
