Poll shows tight 8th District race

A new poll finds Rep. Chip Cravaack and challenger Rick Nolan virtually tied in the race for Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District seat, with nearly 10 percent of those polled saying they remain undecided.
The SurveyUSA / KSTP-TV poll of 578 registered, likely voters, released by the Twin Cities television station Thursday, finds that Nolan, the Democratic challenger, holds a 46 percent to 45 percent lead over Republican incumbent Cravaack. That’s within the poll’s 4.2 percent margin of error.
The poll, conducted Oct. 7-9, found that 9 percent of voters remained undecided.
Nolan had a 10-point lead among women voters, while Cravaack held a 10-point lead among men.
Of the likely voters polled, 35 percent identified themselves as Democrats, 28 percent as Republicans and 32 percent as independents.
The 8th District includes Duluth and all of northeastern Minnesota. It also stretches down the Interstate 35 corridor toward Chisago and Isanti counties, and west to Brainerd and Park Rapids.
In 2010, a Survey USA/KSTP-TV poll released Oct. 29 showed longtime Democratic incumbent Jim Oberstar with a 47 percent to 46 percent lead over then-challenger Cravaack.