A new survey of Minnesota voters shows Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton trails a handful of GOP candidates in hypothetical head-to-head matchups. Clinton’s failure to fend off challenges in the Midwestern blue state — ranked the second most liberal state in the union in 2014 — shows just how much the Democratic juggernaut may be struggling.
Ben Carson leads Clinton 50-41 percent in the KSTP/SurveyUSA poll, Florida Sen Marco Rubio wins 47-41, Carly Fiorina bests Clinton 45-41, and Donald Trump has a three percentage point edge on Clinton too, 45-42. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose poll numbers have dropped nationwide, leads Clinton by one percentage point in a virtual tie, 44-43.
But the most troubling news for Clinton out of Minnesota might be her performance among independent voters. Self-identified independent voters prefer Carson over Clinton by 20 percentage points, favor Fiorina over Clinton by 13 points and choose Rubio over Clinton by 12 points. While no votes will be cast for nearly a year, Clinton has a lot of ground to make up before November comes back around.
The KSTP/SurveyUSA poll surveyed 516 registered voters and had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
