An exclusive Alpha News poll found that Gov. Tim Walz’s approval rating is underwater by an astonishing 15 points. The poll, which surveyed 800 registered voters across Minnesota, was conducted by RMG Research from Dec. 10 through Dec. 16.
RMG Research is run by famed pollster Scott Rasmussen, the founder of Rasmussen Reports and one of the co-founders of ESPN.
According to the new Alpha News poll, 57% of respondents either somewhat disapprove or strongly disapprove of Walz’s job performance. A combined 42% either somewhat approve or strongly approve of the way Walz is doing his job.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has a better approval rating in Minnesota than Walz. In total, 47% approve of the job Trump is doing, and 52% disapprove of the president’s job performance. This means Trump’s job approval in Minnesota is negative 5 points.
Attorney General Keith Ellison also has a negative 5-point approval rating. Only 37% of respondents approve of Ellison’s job performance while 42% disapprove; 20% said they were not sure about the DFL attorney general’s job performance.
What are voters thinking in advance of next year’s elections?
When asked about next year’s gubernatorial election, 40% of those polled said they would vote for Walz, and 46% said they would vote for a Republican opponent. The remaining 14% of respondents said they were not sure who they would vote for.
On top of this, 50% said Minnesota is headed in the wrong direction while 33% said the state is headed in the right direction. The remaining 17% were not sure.
A plurality of those surveyed (27%) said fraud and corruption is the biggest issue facing Minnesota. The economy, taxes, and cost of living was ranked second (22%), government and political leadership was third (18%), and immigration and ICE actions was ranked fourth (14%).
According to the new poll, 57% of respondents said the problem of fraud in Minnesota state government is very serious, and 27% said the problem is somewhat serious. The poll also showed a combined 82% of people had followed coverage of the fraud.
Further, 56% of respondents said the problem of fraud and corruption would be a very important factor in determining who they vote for in next year’s election for governor. Another 27% said the subject would be somewhat important in determining their vote.
When asked who they trust to fight fraud, 48% of those polled said the Republican Party, and 38% said Walz. The remaining 14% of respondents said they were not sure.
This story is the first in a series about the Alpha News/RMG Research poll. Crosstabs and results will be published on Friday.
Methodology: The survey of 800 registered voters in Minnesota was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on Dec. 10-16, 2025. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the state’s population of registered voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3.5 percentage points.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
