An exclusive Alpha News poll found that 54% of respondents believe fraud is significantly worse among Somalis than native Minnesotans. Just 27% said fraud is a similarly serious problem among both native Minnesotans and Somalis. The remaining 19% were not sure.
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.
For years, Minnesota has been inundated with a staggering amount of fraud in government programs. On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota announced more fraud-related criminal charges and said upwards of $9 billion could have been lost to fraud since 2018.
To date, 90% of those who have been charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in connection to Minnesota’s ongoing fraud saga are from the Somali community.
According to the Alpha News/RMG Research poll, 46% of those surveyed said criticism of the Somali community for its involvement in the fraud is justified while 42% believe such criticism is politically motivated. The remaining 12% said they were not sure.
In recent weeks, the widespread fraud in Minnesota has become a national story. Much of the national attention was generated after a City Journal report about fraud proceeds being sent overseas and intercepted by Al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization.
Asked if they believe reports of that nature, 53% of respondents said yes, 26% said no, and the remaining 20% said they were not sure.
The poll also asked respondents about their thoughts on immigrants in their community. In total, 29% said they have a very favorable opinion of immigrants in their community, 31% said they have a somewhat favorable opinion, 20% said they have a somewhat unfavorable opinion, 14% said they have a very unfavorable opinion, and 6% were not sure.
A plurality of those polled (48%) said Gov. Tim Walz has done a poor job of fighting fraud. Meanwhile, 19% said he has done a fair job of fighting fraud, 21% said he has done a good job, 9% said he has done an excellent job, and 3% said they were not sure.
Additionally, 48% of respondents said they trust the Republican Party to fight fraud, compared to 38% for Gov. Walz and 14% who were not sure.
When asked what should be done with recovered fraud proceeds, 39% said the money should be sent to taxpayers through a rebate, 31% said the funds should be used on lowering taxes, 25% said the recovered funds should be used to expand social services, and 5% were not sure.
A combined 54% of poll respondents either strongly favor or somewhat favor pausing some social services while fraud in Minnesota’s state government services is investigated. A combined 40% said they either strongly oppose or somewhat oppose this measure.
This story is the second in a series about the Alpha News/RMG Research poll. Crosstabs and toplines for the poll are available here and here.
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.
