Poll shows Obama ahead in Minnesota

The crowd at Macalester's Leonard Center
Obama supporters filled Macalester College's Leonard Center to listen to Michelle Obama speak at a rally in St. Paul.
MPR Photo/Caroline Yang

A new poll shows that Barack Obama has a commanding lead in Minnesota, and the race for Minnesota's U.S. Senate seat is very tight.

The poll conducted by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut on behalf of WashingtonPost.com and the Wall Street Journal shows Democrat Barack Obama leading Republican John McCain by 11 percentage points.

The poll was conducted between Wednesday and Sunday. 51 percent of those polled said they support Obama. 40 percent said they support McCain.

Meanwhile, Minnesota's closely watched senate race is in a statistical dead heat. The poll shows 38 percent of those surveyed support Democrat Al Franken, 36 percent support Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and 18 percent support Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley.

The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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