ST. PAUL -- Gov. Mark Dayton has a double-digit lead over each of his potential Republican challengers in his bid for re-election this fall, while Al Franken leads his rivals by smaller margins, according to a poll by KSTP and Survey USA.
Former House GOP Minority Leader Marty Seifert was the closest to the DFL's Dayton in a head-to-head matchup, with 51 percent of respondents saying they'd vote for the incumbent versus 34 percent for Seifert.
Jeff Johnson trailed 52-34, followed by Scott Honour (53-33). Three candidates -- Dave Thompson, Kurt Zellers and Rob Farnsworth -- each trailed Dayton by 21 points.
Franken's two closest Republican rivals were state Sen. Julianne Ortman and St. Louis County Commissioner Chris Dahlberg, each of whom trailed the DFLer in a head-to-head matchup by 49 percent to 41 percent. Next was Mike McFadden (50-40) and Jim Abeler (49-37). Monti Moreno and Harold Shudlick each trailed by 14 points.
The poll included 545 registered voters. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
