Poll: Franken up by double digits in reelection fight

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is leading by doubt digits in his 2014 race for reelection.  

A new poll released Thursday by Democratic polling firm PPP found Franken leads his potential GOP opponents by 10 to 13 percentage points. 

{mosads}Five Republicans are seeking to challenge Franken: Chris Dahlberg, Mike McFadden, Jim Abeler, Julianne Ortman and Monti Moreno.  

McFadden, a finance executive, and Ortman, a state senator, are edging closer to Franken than they had been in May, the poll shows, when they trailed the senator by at least 15 percentage points. 

Franken was first elected to Congress in 2008, and now has a 51 percent approval rating, according to the poll. Forty-three percent of voters disapprove of his job.  

PPP notes the GOP race does not yet have a front-runner, and Franken remains in a “pretty strong position” for next year’s midterm elections. 

That, however, could potentially change — none of the Republicans have more than 25 percent name recognition, which could help them gain popularity.  

Minnesotans whom PPP surveyed also gave their senior senator high marks. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) received a 59 percent approval rating. She was reelected to her second term last year after first winning the seat in 2006.  

The poll also found Obama’s approval rating among Minnesota voters has dropped since the spring. In May, his rating hovered closer to 50 percent, and is now around 47 percent. 

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday evening found Obama’s approval rating had dropped to 42 percent, a record low.