Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney fares best in Minnesota among Republicans in a hypothetical 2012 matchup against President Obama — including Gov. Tim Pawlenty — but Romney also has the lowest favorability among conservatives, according to a poll released Wednesday.
The poll from Public Policy Polling, which also surveyed Sen. Amy Klobuchar this week, found that Romney trails Obama by five points, 47-42, while Pawlenty is down eight, 51-43, to Obama.
Other potential GOP 2012 presidential hopefuls had wider margins: former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was down 50-40, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich trailed 51-38, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was behind 54-36.
Overall, Obama's job approval rating in Minnesota polled at 49-46, while Pawlenty's job approval came in at 43-53.
The bad news for Romney in Minnesota is that among Republicans, he has the lowest favorability in the state, the poll found. Romney's favorability among Republicans was 53 percent, lower than Gingrich at 58 percent, Huckabee at 64 percent, and Palin at 70 percent.
The outgoing Minnesota governor had an approval rating among Republicans of 83 percent (the poll question asked for Pawlenty was approve-disapprove; for the others it was favorable-unfavorable).
Of course, Pawlenty also registered a disapproval rating of 89 percent among Democrats, higher than any Republican not named Sarah Palin.
See all the numbers and crosstabs below:
