Talking Points: A Look At Who's Leading In Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota voters won't get a say in the presidential race until March 1, when the state's caucuses will be held.
The Star Tribune has a new poll out that says Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio are leading here.
The poll has the former Secretary of State ahead of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by 34 points. Martin O'Malley is only at one percent while 15 percent are still undecided.
Marco Rubio's lead over Ted Cruz is only two points, and Donald Trump is within striking distance in third place.
The poll's margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.
The poll shows the Republican race in Minnesota is a tight one, with Republicans split between Rubio, Cruz and Trump. In December, a straw poll of party insiders had Cruz coming out on top with 31 percent and Rubio in second with 16 percent.
Minnesota has a caucus, not a primary.
Caucuses are traditionally harder for pollsters to gauge, and that is why democratic insiders say Clinton's 34 percentage point lead over Sanders is unlikely to hold up.
Former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak is the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. He was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning.
"The Minnesota situation is probably a couple of months behind where Iowa is," he said. "Where there has been a lot of campaigning, it does seem like [Minnesota] is going to be a strong Hillary Clinton state."
Sanders has two scheduled rallies in Minnesota on Tuesday: one in Duluth and one in St. Paul at the RiverCentre.
By March 1, voters in six states will already have cast their votes -- something that could influence voters here and could even affect which candidates are still in the race.
