The Star Tribune, MPR News, KARE 11 and FRONTLINE, the PBS series, interviewed 800 Minnesota likely voters between Sept. 9 and Sept. 13. That sample included interviews with 537 self-identified white registered voters and 157 African-American registered voters. During the same period, an additional 343 interviews were conducted with African-American registered voters in Minneapolis who indicated they are likely to vote in November, for a total of 500 interviews. This is commonly referred to as an "oversample," and allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of the responses of white voters and Black voters, with similar margins of sampling error.

Findings from questions about Mayor Jacob Frey, the Minneapolis City Council and charter amendments on the November ballot are below. Results from the August 2020 Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota poll, in which Minneapolis voters were asked several of these questions, are also included. Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Scroll down the page for details about how the poll was conducted the demographics of the respondents.

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey?

Minneapolis voters
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion
35% 36% 29%
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion
TOTAL 35% 36% 29%
Male 31% 40% 29%
Female 39 33 28
White 31 39 30
Black 52 19 29
18-34 32 37 31
35-49 32 42 26
50-64 38 32 30
65+ 41 30 29
No college degree 36 35 29
College graduate 35 37 28
DFL/Democrat 37 34 29
Republican 40 51 9
Independent/other 31 36 33
Black voters
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion
52% 19% 29%
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion
TOTAL 52% 19% 29%
Male 47% 22% 31%
Female 55 18 27
Under 50 57 18 25
50+ 48 20 32
No college degree 51 20 29
College graduate 55 18 27

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Minneapolis City Council?

Minneapolis voters
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion
28% 44% 28%
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion
TOTAL 28 44% 28%
Male 31% 48% 21%
Female 25 41 34
White 27 51 22
Black 36 28 36
18-34 31 41 28
35-49 28 43 29
50-64 25 51 24
65+ 25 44 31
No college degree 29 40 31
College graduate 26 48 26
DFL/Democrat 30 42 28
Republican 9 83 8
Independent/other 27 40 33
Black voters
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion
36% 28% 36%
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion
TOTAL 36% 28% 36%
Male 37% 31% 32%
Female 36 25 39
Under 50 36 30 34
50+ 36 26 38
No college degree 38 26 36
College graduate 30 35 35

Who do you trust more to make decisions about the future of the Minneapolis Police Department?

Minneapolis voters
The mayor City Council Not sure
40% 42% 18%
The mayor City Council Not sure
TOTAL 40% 42% 18%
Male 39% 42% 19%
Female 40 42 18
White 40 45 15
Black 38 35 27
18-34 32 50 18
35-49 37 41 22
50-64 45 36 19
65+ 47 40 13
No college degree 36 42 22
College graduate 43 42 15
DFL/Democrat 40 45 15
Republican 60 17 23
Independent/other 33 42 25
Black voters
The mayor City Council Not sure
38% 35% 27%
The mayor City Council Not sure
TOTAL 38% 35% 27%
Male 40% 29% 31%
Female 36 39 25
Under 50 33 34 33
50+ 43 35 22
No college degree 38 34 28
College graduate 40 38 22

Do you support or oppose granting the mayor of Minneapolis more authority over the city's daily operations and focusing the City Council on legislative work, such as writing ordinances and approving budgets?

Minneapolis voters
Support Oppose Undecided
47% 28% 25%
Support Oppose Undecided
TOTAL 47% 28% 25%
Male 50% 26% 24%
Female 46 28 26
White 47 28 25
Black 54 23 23
18-34 45 31 24
35-49 48 29 23
50-64 48 25 27
65+ 46 26 28
No college degree 47 27 26
College graduate 47 28 25
DFL/Democrat 54 25 21
Republican 34 30 36
Independent/other 35 34 31
Black voters
Support Oppose Undecided
54% 23% 23%
Support Oppose Undecided
TOTAL 54% 23% 23%
Male 52% 26% 22%
Female 56 20 24
Under 50 53 26 21
50+ 55 19 26
No college degree 53 23 24
College graduate 58 21 21

Do you support or oppose allowing the Minneapolis City Council to regulate rents on private residential property?

Minneapolis voters
Support Oppose Undecided
46% 39% 15%
Support Oppose Undecided
TOTAL 46% 39% 15%
Male 45% 43% 12%
Female 46 37 17
White 47 37 16
Black 52 33 15
18-34 50 34 16
35-49 46 37 17
50-64 43 46 11
65+ 41 45 14
No college degree 49 37 14
College graduate 43 41 16
DFL/Democrat 50 30 20
Republican 11 87 2
Independent/other 44 49 7
Black voters
Support Oppose Undecided
52% 33% 15%
Support Oppose Undecided
TOTAL 52% 33% 15%
Male 51% 39% 10%
Female 53 28 19
Under 50 52 30 18
50+ 51 35 14
No college degree 54 32 14
College graduate 44 36 20

About the poll

The findings of this Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11/FRONTLINE Minnesota Poll are based on live interviews conducted Sept. 9 to Sept. 13 with 800 Minneapolis registered voters who indicated that they are likely to vote in the November city election. That sample included interviews with 537 self-identified white registered voters and 157 African-American registered voters. During the same period, an additional 343 interviews were conducted with African-American registered voters in Minneapolis who indicated they are likely to vote in November, for a total of 500 interviews. This is commonly referred to as an "oversample," and allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of the responses of white voters and Black voters, with similar margins of sampling error. The findings of this oversample appear under "Black voters" in the data tables, but these additional interviews are otherwise not included among the main sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters. Other racial demographics are not included in the poll question data tables due to the small number of interviews conducted. This poll was conducted for the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio News, KARE 11 and FRONTLINE, the PBS series, by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy Inc.
Those interviewed were randomly selected by computer from a phone-matched Minneapolis voter registration list that included both land line and cellphone numbers. For the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters, 30% of the interviews were conducted via land line and 70% via cellphone. For the sample of 500 African-American registered voters, 23% of the interviews were conducted via land line and 77% via cellphone.
The margin of sampling error for the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than ± 3.5 percentage points. This means there is a 95 percent probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if all voters were surveyed. The margin of sampling error for the sample of 500 African-American Minneapolis registered voters is no more than ± 4.5 percentage points. The margin of error is higher for any subgroup, such as a gender or age grouping.
Sampling error does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion surveys, such as nonresponse, question wording or context effects. In addition, news events may have affected opinions during the period the poll was taken.
The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents of the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters is 65% Democrats, 7% Republicans and 28% independents or other. The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents of the sample of 500 African-American Minneapolis registered voters is 69% Democrats, less than 1% Republicans and 31% independents or other.
The demographic profile of this poll of registered voters is an accurate reflection of their respective voter populations. This determination is based on more than 100 statewide polls conducted by Mason-Dixon in Minnesota over the past 32 years – a period that spans eight presidential election cycles that began in 1988.
Readers can e-mail questions to matt.delong@startribune.com.

Demographics of Minneapolis voters

PARTY
DFL/Democrat 519 (65%)
Republican 53 (7%)
Independent/other 228 (28%)
AGE
18-34 198 (25%)
35-49 246 (31%)
50-64 194 (24%)
65+ 155 (19%)
Refused 7 (1%)
RACE
White/Caucasian 537 (67%)
Black/African American 157 (20%)
Hispanic/Latino 43 (5%)
Asian/Pacific Islander 46 (6%)
Other 13 (2%)
Refused 4 (1%)
GENDER ID
Male 376 (47%)
Female 414 (52%)
Other 10 (1%)
EDUCATION
High school or less 177 (22%)
Some college/Vocational 167 (21%)
College graduate 273 (34%)
Graduate degree 179 (22%)
Refused 4 (1%)
INTERVIEW
Landline 238 (30%)
Cellphone 562 (70%)

Demographics of Black Minneapolis voters

PARTY
DFL/Democrat 343 (69%)
Republican 3 (1%)
Independent/other 154 (31%)
AGE
18-34 114 (23%)
35-49 123 (25%)
50-64 139 (28%)
65+ 118 (23%)
Refused 6 (1%)
GENDER ID
Male 208 (42%)
Female 292 (58%)
Other 0 (0%)
EDUCATION
High school or less 221 (44%)
Some college/Vocational 174 (35%)
College graduate 76 (15%)
Graduate degree 27 (6%)
Refused 2 (<1%)
INTERVIEW
Land line 117 (23%)
Cellphone 383 (77%)