Minnesota poll numbers continue to swing as midterms near
Rising prices for gas and groceries, abortion rights and violent crime are the top issues for Minnesota voters who responded to the latest MinnPost/Embold Research poll.
Greta Kaul is an associate editor at MinnPost. She spoke with WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs in late October about the poll results and what they mean, and don’t mean, for Minnesota voters.
For example, polls are but a snapshot in time, Kaul explained. This means the results of the survey from mid-October that was spearheaded by MinnPost could change by the time Election Day arrives Nov. 8. For example, the MinnPost poll showed Gov. Tim Walz with a 47-42 percentage point advantage over GOP challenger Scott Jensen. More recent polls show a tighter race in the gubernatorial contest.
The MinnPost news department shares that of issues important to voters this year, “there were 1,585 different open-ended answers about Minnesota, but the pollsters did group answers into similar categories when possible. For issues facing the state, 20% of respondents listed crime. After that, 13% of voters polled mentioned inflation, 11% abortion, 10% economy and jobs, 9% taxes, 8% education, 6% democracy and voting, 5% health care, 5% climate and 5% housing.”
As the nation experienced in 2016 and again in 2020, polls are not always accurate in the lead up to an election. On a broader scale, when it comes to polling, a recent piece in the New York Times questions “whether our increased interest in polling is a good thing for our politics or really for us.”
Listen to the audio below to learn more about why media companies conduct polls, how they are done and what they mean for a newsroom in Minnesota.
Joe Friedrichs October 29, 2022
