Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Voters in Minnesota made their pick for president while holding negative views about the country's direction, according to an expansive AP survey of the American electorate.

The race between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden concluded Tuesday as the nation remains in the throes of a global public health crisis and mired in the economic downturn it brought on. AP VoteCast found that 37 percent of Minnesota voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 62 percent of voters said it is headed in the wrong direction.

Not really

Minn. election officials say it's close, but not yet

Here's a snapshot of who voted and what matters to them, based on preliminary results from AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of about 133,000 voters and nonvoters — including 3,613 voters and 449 nonvoters in Minnesota — 

conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago

In the race for president, Biden led Trump among voters under 45 while Trump was about even with Biden among older voters.

College-educated voters were more likely to prefer Biden over Trump but voters without a college degree leaned toward Trump over Biden.

Both voters in cities and suburban voters were more likely to back Biden over Trump but Trump had an advantage among voters in small towns and rural areas.

In the race for U.S. Senate, Tina Smith was preferred over Jason Lewis among voters under 45 while Lewis and Smith were roughly even among older voters.

College-educated voters were more likely to support Smith over Lewis but Lewis and Smith were neck and neck among voters without a college degree.

Voters in small towns and rural areas were more likely to prefer Lewis while Smith had an advantage among both voters in cities and suburban voters.

The coronavirus pandemic has spread through the U.S. for roughly eight months, killing more than 230,000 Americans. Overall, 18 percent of voters said the virus in the U.S. is completely or mostly under control, and 29 percent said it’s somewhat under control. Fifty-two percent of voters think the coronavirus is not at all under control in this country.

The coronavirus pandemic was top of mind for many voters in Minnesota. Forty-two percent said it is the most important issue facing the country today.

Voters also considered the economy a major issue, with 25 percent saying it ranked at the top.

Nine percent named health care, 5 percent named racism and 5 percent named climate change.

Voters were more negative than positive in their assessments of the nation's economy. Overall, 44 percent described economic conditions in the U.S. as excellent or good, and 56 percent called them not so good or poor.

Among registered voters who chose not to cast a ballot in Minnesota, 26 percent said that was because they don't like politics generally, 19 percent said they don't like the candidates and 11 percent said they don't know enough about the candidates' positions.

In Minnesota, 74 percent of nonvoters were younger than 45 and 83 percent did not have a college degree.

AP created this story automatically using results from AP VoteCast, a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for Fox News, NPR, PBS NewsHour, Univision News, USA Today Network, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. The survey of 3,613 voters in Minnesota was conducted for eight days, concluding as polls closed. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.

The survey combines a random sample of registered voters drawn from the state voter file and self-identified registered voters selected from nonprobability online panels. The margin of sampling error for voters is estimated to be plus or minus 2.1 percentage points. Find more details about AP VoteCast's methodology at 

Politics and Government News

Health

COVID-19

The Associated Press

Author

Minnesota voters made their pick for president while holding negative views about the country's direction, according to an AP survey.

AP VoteCast: Minnesota voters sour on state of nation

Go Deeper.

Like this?