Polling data suggests that Minnesota may elect a Republican to fill one of its U.S. Senate seats as the 2020 election draws closer.
The race for U.S. Senate between incumbent Democrat Sen. Tina Smith and Republican challenger Jason Lewis is a “toss up,” according to poll analysis from Real Clear Politics.
The outlet declared the race a toss up based on recent polling data collected by Emerson Polling.
“In the race for U.S. Senate, the Democratic incumbent Sen. Tina Smith leads … with a 3 point lead of 48% to 45% over … Jason Lewis. Seven-percent (7%) of voters are still undecided,” according to Emerson.
“We’re neck and neck with our anti-law enforcement and anti-Trump opponent,” Lewis said via Twitter on Sunday, commenting on the new data.
🚨🚨MINNESOTA SENATE RACE NOW A TOSS UP!!! (according to Real Clear Politics).
We’re neck and neck with our anti-law enforcement & anti-Trump opponent, Senator @TinaSmithMN.
Please chip in a few bucks today and help the President and me flip MN red!- https://t.co/yka0w5Rjbq pic.twitter.com/0AdY0ofD5j
— Jason Lewis (@LewisForMN) August 22, 2020
Lewis, a former U.S. representative, also challenged Smith to a series of debates “Kennedy-Goldwater style.”
“Before his tragic assassination in 1963, Democratic President John F. Kennedy and his former colleague and friend who was the likely 1964 GOP residential nominee, Sen. Barry Goldwater, reached an agreement to hold a series of debates around the county in the lead-up to the November 1964 presidential election,” Lewis said in a press release.
He said an equal number of tickets would be distributed to each campaign and no moderator would be present, like Kennedy and Goldwater did.
“In the spirit of two great leaders from two very different walks of life coming together to agree that partisanship was secondary to the American people’s need to hear from their would-be leaders, I hereby propose Sen. Tina Smith and I conduct no fewer than five in-person Kennedy/Goldwater style debates between now and Election Day,” he added.
Lewis and Smith already met at a virtual debate in early August, but have not yet had a public in-person debate during this election cycle.
Meanwhile, two polls both show that the presidential race is heavily contested in Minnesota as well.
One of the polls is from Emerson and reveals that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden holds only a 3% lead in the state — a figure that falls within the poll’s margin of error.
Another, slightly newer, poll from the Trafalgar Group reports similar findings.
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
