Al Franken has taken the lead over incumbent Norm Coleman in the Minnesota Senate race, according to a new poll.
The Star-Tribune Minnesota Poll, conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 2, showed the Democrat and former writer-performer for “Saturday Night Live” with a 43 percent to 34 percent advantage over Coleman, a Republican, in a contest of Jewish candidates. Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley garnered 18 percent.
Coleman led Franken by 4 points last month in the same poll.
The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.7 points.
Coleman campaign officials, according to the Minnesota Star-Tribune, criticized the poll’s methodology by noting that a SurveyUSA poll conducted by a local TV station and released earlier in the week had Coleman up 10 points on Franken, 43 percent to 33 percent.
The Star-Tribune Minnesota poll also found that Barkley was drawing more votes from Coleman than Franken, and that Franken would be ahead by 7 points in a head-to-head match.
