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Last update: October 6, 2005 at 7:08 AM
Pawlenty, Kennedy lag in poll
Dane Smith, Star Tribune
October 6, 2005 ZOGBY1006
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kennedy, the presumed Republican nominees for two major statewide races in 2006, are vulnerable to DFLers more than a year from Election Day, according to a recent Zogby/Wall Street Journal Poll.
The poll claims to show that if the election were held now, Pawlenty would finish slightly behind two prominent DFLers, Attorney General Mike Hatch and trial attorney Mike Ciresi. Ciresi actually has expressed interest in a U.S. Senate race, not the gubernatorial contest; he was an unsuccessful Senate candidate in the 2000 DFL primary election.
In head-to-head matchups, the poll shows Hatch beating Pawlenty 49 percent to 45 percent and Ciresi winning 48 percent to 46 percent. Both results are within the margin of sampling error for MInnesota of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. In another matchup, Pawlenty barely beats Bud Philbrook, a relatively unknown former DFL legislator, 45 percent to 39 percent.
In the Senate races, the Zogby-WSJ Poll showed Kennedy, now a U.S. House member from the suburban Sixth District, also finishing behind two DFLers, Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar and Patty Wetterling.
Wetterling, an advocate for missing children and their parents, has scheduled an official campaign kickoff announcement in St. Cloud on Sunday.
The poll shows Klobuchar ahead of Kennedy 49 percent to 43 percent and Wetterling leading 48 percent to 45 percent. Kennedy leads a lesser-known DFLer, nonprofit executive Ford Bell, 45 percent to 43 percent.
The seat is open because U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, is not seeking reelection.
The Minnesota Zogby poll was part of early testing of 38 gubernatorial and Senate contests in battleground states around the nation. Overall, the poll's directors said the results show signs that Democrats could make gains nationally on Republicans in governors' offices and the U.S. Senate.
More information from the polls can be found online at www.wsj.com or www.zogby.com.
Dane Smith is at rdsmith@startribune.com.
Pawlenty, Kennedy lag in poll
Dane Smith, Star Tribune
October 6, 2005 ZOGBY1006
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kennedy, the presumed Republican nominees for two major statewide races in 2006, are vulnerable to DFLers more than a year from Election Day, according to a recent Zogby/Wall Street Journal Poll.
The poll claims to show that if the election were held now, Pawlenty would finish slightly behind two prominent DFLers, Attorney General Mike Hatch and trial attorney Mike Ciresi. Ciresi actually has expressed interest in a U.S. Senate race, not the gubernatorial contest; he was an unsuccessful Senate candidate in the 2000 DFL primary election.
In head-to-head matchups, the poll shows Hatch beating Pawlenty 49 percent to 45 percent and Ciresi winning 48 percent to 46 percent. Both results are within the margin of sampling error for MInnesota of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. In another matchup, Pawlenty barely beats Bud Philbrook, a relatively unknown former DFL legislator, 45 percent to 39 percent.
In the Senate races, the Zogby-WSJ Poll showed Kennedy, now a U.S. House member from the suburban Sixth District, also finishing behind two DFLers, Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar and Patty Wetterling.
Wetterling, an advocate for missing children and their parents, has scheduled an official campaign kickoff announcement in St. Cloud on Sunday.
The poll shows Klobuchar ahead of Kennedy 49 percent to 43 percent and Wetterling leading 48 percent to 45 percent. Kennedy leads a lesser-known DFLer, nonprofit executive Ford Bell, 45 percent to 43 percent.
The seat is open because U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, is not seeking reelection.
The Minnesota Zogby poll was part of early testing of 38 gubernatorial and Senate contests in battleground states around the nation. Overall, the poll's directors said the results show signs that Democrats could make gains nationally on Republicans in governors' offices and the U.S. Senate.
More information from the polls can be found online at www.wsj.com or www.zogby.com.
Dane Smith is at rdsmith@startribune.com.