Clear DFL Front Runner in U.S. Senate Race

08/29/2005

Poll of DFL Delegates Shows Klobuchar With Commanding Lead
Has probable lock on U.S. Senate nomination

Excerpts from “Inside Minnesota Politics”

If a poll of DFL delegates is any indication, Amy Klobuchar should have no trouble locking up the DFL endorsement. “Inside Minnesota Politics With Peter Idusogie” surveyed the delegates and alternates to the last DFL convention and found 66.2% of them think Klobuchar is the candidate with the best chance to beat probable Republican nominee Mark Kennedy.

Patty Wetterling pulled 15% of the vote. Kelly Doran and Ford Bell finished in the single digits.

When the poll includes responses from other party activists, Klobuchar’s lead shrinks by 6.7 percentage points.

While the poll is not scientific, it is significant because of the Klobuchar’s large margin and who was polled.

More than 200 party activists responded to the invitation-only poll. Of those, 133 had been delegates or alternates to last year’s DFL convention. While the delegates to next year’s endorsing convention won’t be picked until after the March caucuses, history shows most of last year’s delegates are likely to be next year’s delegates

The survey sample included about the same number of delegates/alternates from each of Minnesota’s eight Congressional Districts, with the exception of an under-representation from the 6th Congressional District. If the survey results are adjusted to compensate for the under sampling, Klobuchar still maintains a 38 percentage point lead over Wetterling.

NOTE: This poll was conducted by Inside Minnesota Politics and was not paid for, nor done in coordination with any candidate or political party.