Poll: Dayton leads Emmer 38-36, Horner’s support grows

Fewer than seven weeks before Election Day, the Minnesota’s governor’s race is a statistical dead heat, with Democrat Mark Dayton leading Republican Tom Emmer by a 38 to 36 margin, according to a KSTP/Survey USA poll released last night. Independence Party candidate Tom Horner posted his strongest showing yet, pulling in 18 percent support.

An Aug. 5 Survey USA poll showed Dayton with a commanding 46-32 lead over Emmer at the time, and the Minnesota GOP sought to paint the latest poll as a sign of Dayton’s slipping support. “Tonight’s new poll results from KSTP confirm that Mark Dayton is losing ground as Minnesotans learn more about his unsustainable tax and spend agenda,”  Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton said in a statement.

But Horner’s support may be the most surprising takeaway from the latest poll. After polling at just 9 percent in the Aug. 5 poll, Horner’s showing doubled this time in the same week he gained an endorsement from former Gov. Arne Carlson on Monday, Sept. 13 (the poll was conducted Sept. 12 through Sept. 14.). And the Independence Party candidate is pulling more and more from self-identified Republicans and Democrats.

After pulling 8 percent from Republicans and 5 percent from Democrats in the Aug. 5 poll, Horner nearly doubled that showing this time: He garnered support from 14 percent of Republicans and 13 percent from Democrats.

The poll had a 3.9 percent margin of error.