Good morning, and welcome to another Monday.
And we start with a poll released over the weekend. DFL Gov. Tim Walz is ahead of Republican challenger Scott Jensen by 7 percentage points with less than two months to go in their race, according to a new MPR News/Star Tribune/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll that also shows a majority approves of the incumbent's job performance. MPR's Brian Bakst reports the Walz lead over Jensen stands at 48 to 41 percent. Ten percent told the Mason Dixon Polling and Strategy firm that they hadn't made up their minds and a tiny fraction said they would opt for a third-party candidate. It gives Jensen, a doctor and former state senator, room to catch Walz if he can convince virtually all of the undecideds to come his way. Meanwhile, about 52 percent say they approve of how Walz has done his job. That's a better showing than Democratic President Joe Biden, who got a positive mark from just 46 percent and was viewed negatively by 49 percent. The rest were unsure.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Republican challenger Jim Schultz are neck-and-neck in the MPR News/Star Tribune/KARE 11 poll. The statewide poll of 800 registered voters conducted between Sept. 12 and 14 by Mason-Dixon Polling shows Ellison, the DFL incumbent, with 46 percent support. Meanwhile, nearly 45 percent of respondents chose Schultz, and another nearly 9 percent were undecided. MPR's Dana Ferguson reports the results are within the poll's plus-or-minus 3.5 percentage point margin of error, with seven weeks until Election Day. The poll also found that Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon held a more comfortable lead, nearly 8 percentage points over Kim Crockett, the Republican running to unseat him. In that face-off, Simon picked up nearly 48 percent support, while 40 percent backed Crockett. The remaining 12 percent were undecided.
The poll also shows strong support for legalizing marijuana, and just under a majority favoring legalizing sports betting. Roughly 53 percent said they supported legal marijuana, while 36 percent said they opposed it and about 11 percent remained unsure. Support for legalizing cannabis cuts across age groups, voters' geographic location, level of education, race and gender, with majorities backing the plan across those categories. The proposal faces greater opposition among Republicans, with just under 65 percent of those who identified as Republicans opposing the proposal to make cannabis available for recreational use, compared to 29 percent of GOP voters who support it. Just under 48 percent of Minnesotans surveyed said they supported legalizing gambling on sports while 33 percent said they opposed it and roughly 19 percent were unsure.
Also in the governor's race, there will be just two more debates, the Walz campaign said Saturday. The first will be hosted by KTTC-TV in Rochester, and airing on its fellow Gray Television-owned stations that serve Minnesota: KBJR in Duluth, KEYC in Mankato and KXJB in Fargo/Moorhead. The second debate will air on MPR News on Oct. 28. Both will be streamed on the internet. "The additional debates will bring the total number of debates for the campaign to three, including FarmFest," the Walz campaign said in a statement. "This is the same number of debates that were held in the U.S. Senate elections won by Amy Klobuchar in 2018 and Tina Smith in both 2018 and 2020." Jensen called the agreement "too little, too late." He said the two debates will happen after the start of early voting in Minnesota, which begins on Sept. 28. "None of the debates Tim Walz has agreed to will be in front of Minnesota voters and none will even air on metro television," Jensen said in a statement. "Let me repeat: Tim Walz has not agreed to a single debate that will air on Twin Cities television."
And on Friday Walz put out a plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road.From the Associated Press: The 69-page plan details six broad goals: clean transportation; climate-smart natural and working lands; resilient communities; clean energy and efficient buildings; healthy lives and communities; and a clean economy. Each category contained long, detailed lists of proposals. Katrina Kessler, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, said the Walz administration can implement some of the proposals on its own, while others would require approval and funding from the next Legislature, and still others could be achieved through partnerships with local governments, businesses and farmers. Jensen criticized the governor's plan for not once mentioning nuclear power as a potential source of low-carbon electricity. "However, Governor Walz's report does mention the words 'equity' or 'equitable' 40 times," Jensen said in a statement "While equality is something we should all strive for, it's clear that this is a political document meant to shore up his base before an election, rather than a serious solution for Minnesota's energy problems." | 
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