Biden up by 16 points in Minnesota: poll

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has opened up a double-digit lead over President Trump in Minnesota, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Wednesday, suggesting a set back for the president in a state that his campaign is hoping to flip in November.

The poll shows Biden garnering 57 percent of the vote to Trump’s 41 percent in Minnesota. 

Trump lost the state to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 by fewer than 45,000 votes. But his campaign has argued that Minnesota is in play this year and has already reserved $14 million in air time in the state in an effort to turn it red in November.

Biden’s outsized lead in the state is driven, in part, by apparent defections among voting blocs critical to Trump’s political coalition. 

Among noncollege-educated white women, a group Trump carried four years ago by a 22-point margin, Biden now leads 59-40 percent. Trump still leads 60-37 percent among noncollege-educated white men, albeit by a smaller margin than in 2016, when he garnered 63 percent of those voters to Clinton’s 30 percent.

Biden also has a much wider lead among college-educated white voters than Clinton did in 2016. More than two-thirds — 69 percent — said they would vote for Biden, while only 30 percent favor Trump, according to the Post-ABC News poll.

Among seniors — those 65 and older — Biden has a 29-point advantage over Trump, garnering 64 percent support to the president’s 35 percent. And among Minnesota moderates, a group that Clinton won by only 5 points in 2016, Biden now leads Trump by a staggering 57 points — 76 percent to 19 percent.

Approval of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is underwater, with 39 percent approving and 60 percent disapproving. At the same time, more voters trust Biden over Trump to handle the pandemic, 58-36 percent. 

The Washington Post-ABC News poll surveyed 705 Minnesota registered voters, including 615 likely voters, from Sept. 8 to 13. It has a margin of error of 4.0 percentage points among registered voters and 4.5 percentage points for likely voters.