WASHINGTON — Democratic incumbent Tim Walz has increased his lead in the 1st District to nine points over GOP challenger Randy Demmer, a new ABC 6 News/SurveyUSA poll shows.
Walz leads Demmer 50-41 in the survey, which polled 800 registered voters from October 22-26. All other candidates polled at or four percent or less with four percent undecided and a margin of error of 4.2 percent.
It’s an increase of four points from a previous SurveyUSA poll two weeks ago, when Walz led 47-42.
Interestingly, Walz is vastly out-running DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton, who barely leads Tom Emmer in the 1st, 42-41, with Tom Horner on 13 percent.
That Walz and Emmer are polling differently in the first district I think is not surprising, at all. Party democrats who would have preferred to vote for the speaker will vote for Dayton…but Dayton kind of freaks out some self-described moderates. Emmer has the conservative base firmly on his side…but apparently little else.
Walz is endorsed by the NRA and the VFW. It’s hard to paint him as a bleeding heart liberal.
Walz is also a very solid person who doesn’t scare people like some candidates. The more you get to know him, the more you like him. I think he has grown on the people in his district.