Minnesota State Wire

The race for Minnesota secretary of state is on the horizon with Democrat Steve Simon facing Republican Kim Crockett. Despite the claims of other survey findings, a recent poll backed by the Election Integrity PAC shows the two candidates are neck and neck.

"Crockett and Simon’s image among voters is virtually identical from a top line standpoint as both are viewed favorably by 32% of the electorate and Simon’s unfavorable view is slightly higher than Crockett’s at 29% and 26% respectively," said Ryan Munce, founding partner, president and CEO of the polling firm co/efficient.

The results of a statewide survey revealed Crockett and Simon are tied. Each candidate received 44% of the vote while 11% of respondents remain undecided. Co/efficient reports that among  respondents who voted in all of the last four elections, Crockett performs better than Simon, as she enjoys a 35% to 25% favorable to unfavorable rating, and Simon's stands at 35% favorable and 32% unfavorable.

The survey of 605 likely general election voters was conducted from Sept. 14-16. Co/efficient reports that 93% of the survey was completed using mobile text response and 7% was completed using automated landline interviews. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.98%. The sample was split evenly among party lines, with 36% Republican, 35% Democrat and 28% nonpartisan and Independent.

Survey results also show Crockett moves up a point to 45% and Simon drops a point to 43% among respondents who have voted in all four of the last general elections. Additionally, Simon maintains an 11-point lead among female voters, 49% to 38%, while Crockett has a 13-point lead with male voters, 52% to 39%.

Simon, who has held the position since he was first elected in 2014, is running for his third term against Crockett on Nov. 8. Results from another mid-September poll distributed by KARE 11/Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota showed 48% of Minnesotans planned to vote for Simon, 40% said they plan to vote for Crockett and around 12% of voters remained undecided.

Crockett, who previously served as vice president and general counsel for The Center of the American Experiment, a Minnesota conservative think tank, told the Duluth News Tribune she's running to restore faith in elections.             

According to the Duluth News Tribune, a KSTP/Survey USA poll released Oct. 6 showed Simon with 42% support and Crockett with 40%, with 18% undecided. Another poll released from Alpha News/Trafalgar Group on Sept. 20 showed the candidates within 1% of each other.