Poll: Minnesota Republican Scott Jensen Leads Governor’s Race

A shock poll shows Republican Dr. Scott Jensen leading his Democrat opponent Tim Walz in the Minnesota governor’s race.

Surveying 1,091 likely general election voters between October 17-19 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent, the Alpha News/Trafalgar Group poll shows that Jensen narrowly leads Walz by less than one point – 46.3 percent to 45.8 percent. Considering that Walz is the incumbent governor, the narrow lead offers a positive indication that voters still on the fence may pull the lever in Jensen’s favor come election day.

The same poll in September showed Jensen trailing Walz by 2.7 points.

In the attorney general race, Republican candidate Jim Schultz now leads Democrat Keith Ellison by nearly five points.

Should Minnesota swing Republican for the midterm, it will be a dramatic shift after the state overwhelmingly voted for Joe Biden in 2020 despite the intense rioting that rocked Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Officer Derek Chauvin. As Breitbart News reported, the shift in Minneapolis likely stems from an overwhelming frustration with rising crime rates:

Minnesotans and Americans as a whole are increasingly worried about rising crime rates. A September poll found that reducing crime was the top priority for 41.5 percent of Minnesota voters. Nationwide, a Politico poll released this month found that 77 percent of Americans think violent crime is a significant problem within the country.

Dr. Scott Jensen has campaigned hard against rising crime rates and has proposed harsher penalties on various crimes that Democrats have shown leniency towards, such as carjackings and theft.

“The exact time everyone realized there was no leadership on public safety is when we saw Minneapolis burning for days with no response from state government,” his website states. “It’s gotten worse since then and there’s no end in sight because Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan don’t have the political will to do anything about it. We have a plan to stop crime cold in Minnesota.”