Democrat Al Franken has been a U.S. senator for less than three months, but 41% of Minnesota voters think he is doing a good or excellent job.

The latest Rasmussen Reports finds that 31% of voters in the state say Franken, who narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in a lengthy statewide recount, is performing his new job poorly.

Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Minnesota Democrats say their new senator is doing a good or excellent job, while 56% of Republicans say he is performing poorly. Voters not affiliated with either party are closely divided: 34% give Franken positive ratings while 34% say he is doing a poor job.

Amy Klobuchar, Franken's fellow Democratic senator from Minnesota, fares much better. Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters give her good or excellent ratings, while only 19% rate her performance as poor. Klobuchar was elected in 2006.

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Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has announced he will not not seek reelection and is considering a presidential run in 2012. He has spent a considerable amount of time out of the state giving speeches and also has campaigned with fellow Republican Bob McDonnell in this year's Virginia gubernatorial race. Fifty percent (50%) of Minnesota voters are somewhat or very concerned about the amount of time Pawlenty spends out of state, including 30% who are very concerned. But nearly as many (46%) say they are not very or not at all concerned about their governor’s time spent out of state.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of voters find it likely Pawlenty will run for president in 2012, up 13 points from results found in May.

Only 18% now find this outcome unlikely.

Half of voters (50%) also find it at least somewhat likely their governor will win the Republican nomination, while 36% say it is not very or not at all likely he will do so. In May, only 37% thought it was likely the governor would win the nomination.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of Minnesota Republicans say it's likely Pawlenty will win the GOP nomination, compared to 40% of Democrats and 39% of unaffiliated voters.

Pawlenty earns approval from 56% of all voters in the state for his performance as governor, up three points from May. Forty-three percent (43%) of voters somewhat or strongly disapprove of the job he is doing.

When it comes to health care reform, 49% of Minnesota voters somewhat or strongly approve of the plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s slightly higher than results found on the national level and falls in the middle of other states recently polled. Forty-eight percent (48%) disapprove of the plan.

On the economy, 51% of voters in Minnesota are worried the government will to do too much to fix current problems while 38% are more worried the government will not do enough. Those results are nearly identical to results found on the national level.

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