A new poll of Minnesota voters shows Sen. Amy Klobuchar in fourth place in her home state ahead of the first 2020 Democratic presidential debate.
Klobuchar was trailing Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 21%, former Vice President Joe Biden with 20% and Sen. Bernie Sanders with 19%, according to the poll by Change Research. The senator was favored by 16% of the 700-plus voters surveyed in the early poll, taken June 8-12.
Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Kamala Harris, Beto O'Rourke and Andrew Yang all came in behind Klobuchar in Minnesota.
Warren fared the best among polled Minnesota women, while male respondents chose Sanders most often. Sanders was also most popular with younger voters from 18 to 49. Voters 50 and older preferred Biden over other candidates.
The poll also featured a question on the Alec Smith Emergency Insulin Act, a Minnesota health care bill named for a 26-year-old man who died while rationing insulin until his next paycheck. The act proposes that the largest insulin manufacturers foot the bill so diabetics have access to an affordable 90-day supply of insulin. Though it was once a bipartisan bill sure to pass, the bill failed in the last hours of this year's legislative special session. The poll showed that 74 percent of registered Minnesota voters support the bill.
Klobuchar has said she wants to make prescription drugs like insulin more affordable.
After serving in the U.S. Senate for three terms, Klobuchar announced her presidential bid on a snowy day at Boom Island Park in February. Previously, she served as an attorney for Hennepin County.
Klobuchar will face half of the crowded field on stage during the first night of the 2020 Democratic debate on June 26 in Miami.
Zoë Jackson • 612-673-7112
