Though the Kennedy campaign has been throwing everything they've got at the DFL candidate, county attorney Amy Klobuchar is maintaining her edge in the race for U.S. Senate, now besting Republican Mark Kennedy 47% to 40% (see crosstabs).

Independent candidate Robert Fitzgerald attracts 8% of the vote.

Klobuchar's advantage has narrowed since our earlier August poll, but her current seven-point lead remains significant. For most of 2006, there have been only two or three points separating the major-party candidates.

Based upon this poll, we are shifting the race from “Democrat” to “Leans Democrat” in our Senate Balance of Power summary.

The Kennedy campaign has been asserting all year that Klobuchar is a clone of the incumbent, Senator Mark Dayton (DFL). When she announced her candidacy, she called Dayton one of her "heroes," a characterization seized on by Republicans. An April issue of Time magazine dubbing Dayton "The Blunderer" served as more fodder for the assault-by-association. But Klobuchar's standing in our polls has nonetheless improved.

Both major party candidates do well with their base. Klobuchar does better with unaffiliated voters and with moderates, leading Kennedy 60% to 26% in that group.

Klobuchar is viewed "very favorably" by 33% of Minnesota voters, a ten-point increase since January. Kennedy is viewed "very favorably" by just 24%, and is also saddled with a higher "very unfavorable" number.

A plurality (42%) of all voters see Klobuchar as a liberal, though many (37%) also see her as moderate. Fifty-one percent (51%) see Kennedy as conservative, 29% as moderate.

Crosstabs are available for Premium Members only.