How the poll was conducted

Today's poll commissioned by the Star Tribune is based on interviews conducted Oct. 16 with 1,000 likely voters in the Sixth Congressional District, via automated phone calls to land lines. (Automated phone calls are not allowed to be made to cellphones without written consent.) The poll was conducted for the Star Tribune by Pulse Opinion Research.

Results of a poll based on 1,000 interviews will vary by no more than 3 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. The self-identified party affiliation of the random sample is: 39 percent Republican, 27 percent Democrat and 34 percent independent or other.

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