The Star Tribune, MPR News and KARE 11 interviewed 800 Minnesota registered voters between Sept. 12 and Sept. 14, 2022. All indicated they are likely to vote in the November general election. Findings from questions about the Minnesota governor's race, Gov. Tim Walz and President Joe Biden are below. Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Scroll down the page for details about how the poll was conducted, a map of the Minnesota regions used in this poll and the demographics of the 800 respondents.

If the 2022 general election for Minnesota governor were held today, would you vote for:

Tim Walz Scott Jensen Another candidate 1% Undecided
48% 41%   10%
Tim
Walz		 Scott
Jensen		 Another
candidate		 Undecided
Hennepin/ Ramsey 68% 20% 1% 11%
Rest of metro 41 53 0 6
Southern Minn. 37 49 1 14
Northern Minn. 37 51 1 11
Men 41 49 0 10
Women 54 34 1 11
DFL/ Democrat 96 2 0 2
Republican 3 91 0 5
Independent/ other 41 33 2 24
18-34 61 27 0 12
35-49 48 42 1 9
50-64 43 46 1 10
65+ 44 44 1 11
No college 43 44 1 12
College degree 55 37 0 8
White 45 44 1 10
Nonwhite 68 20 2 10
Trump voters 2 91 1 7
Biden voters 94 0 0 6

Which one of the following public policy areas is most influential in deciding your vote for governor?

TOTAL Walz
voters		 Jensen
voters		 Undecided
Economy/ jobs 32% 20% 42% 44%
Law & order/ crime 24 11 37 27
Abortion 22 36 10 5
Education 9 13 6 7
Climate change 8 12 4 9
Racial justice 2 4 0 1
Not sure 2 2 1 5
COVID-19 response 1 1 1 0
Marijuana <1 <1 <1 1
Other 1 1 1 1

Do you approve or disapprove of Tim Walz's job performance as governor?

Approve Disapprove Not sure
52% 42% 6%
Approve Disapprove Not sure
Hennepin/ Ramsey 72% 22% 6%
Rest of metro 44 48 8
Southern Minn. 42 53 5
Northern Minn. 39 55 7
Men 44 49 7
Women 59 36 5
DFL/ Democrat 98 2 0
Republican 3 89 8
Independent/ other 50 38 12
18-34 63 31 6
35-49 53 43 5
50-64 48 45 8
65+ 47 46 7
No college 47 46 8
College degree 58 38 5
White 49 45 7
Nonwhite 72 24 5
Trump voters 6 88 6
Biden voters 95 3 2

Do you approve or disapprove of Joe Biden's job performance as president?

Approve Disapprove Not sure
46% 49% 5%
Approve Disapprove Not sure
TOTAL 46 49 5
Hennepin/ Ramsey 64% 29% 7%
Rest of metro 39 58 3
Southern Minn. 37 59 4
Northern Minn. 35 59 6
Men 39 56 5
Women 52 43 5
DFL/ Democrat 91 4 4
Republican 2 98 0
Independent/ other 40 49 11
18-34 56 34 10
35-49 47 50 3
50-64 41 54 5
65+ 42 54 4
No college 40 55 5
College degree 52 43 5
White 42 52 5
Nonwhite 67 28 5
Trump voters 2 97 1
Biden voters 87 6 7

About the poll

The findings of this Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll are based on live interviews conducted Sept. 12 to Sept. 14, 2022, with 800 Minnesota registered voters who indicated they are likely to vote in the November general election. The poll was conducted for the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio News and KARE 11 by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy Inc.
Those interviewed were randomly selected from a phone-matched Minnesota voter registration list that included both land-line and cell phone numbers. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter registration by county. The interviews were conducted via land line (28%) and cellphone (72%).
The margin of sampling error for this sample of 800 registered voters, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than ± 3.5 percentage points. This means that there is a 95% probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if all voters were surveyed. The margin of error is higher for any subgroup, such as a gender or age grouping.
The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents is 35% Democrats, 32% Republicans and 33% independents or other.
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 demographic profile of this poll of likely 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 34 years – a period that spans eight presidential election cycles that began in 1988.
Readers can e-mail questions to matt.delong@startribune.com.
PARTY ID
DFL/Democrat 279 (35%)
Republican 258 (32%)
Independent/ other 263 (33%)
AGE
18-34 136 (17%)
35-49 234 (29%)
50-64 222 (28%)
65+ 203 (25%)
Refused 5 (1%)
RACE
White/Caucasian 684 (86%)
Black/African American 45 (6%)
Hispanic/Latino 41 (5%)
Asian/Pacific Islander 17 (2%)
Other 6 (1%)
Refused 7 (1%)
GENDER ID
Men 381 (48%)
Women 414 (52%)
Other 5 (<1%)
REGION
Hennepin/Ramsey 260 (33%)
Rest of metro 215 (27%)
Southern Minnesota 155 (19%)
Northern Minnesota 170 (21%)
EDUCATION
High school or less 169 (21%)
Some college/Vocational 255 (32%)
College graduate 232 (29%)
Graduate degree 137 (17%)
Refused 7 (<1%)
2020 VOTE
Donald Trump 344 (43%)
Joe Biden 387 (48%)
Other 11 (1%)
Did not vote 39 (5%)
Not sure/Refused 19 (2%)
INTERVIEW
Land line 221 (28%)
Cell Phone 579 (72%)