Minnesota: Pawlenty Trailing Early

​The aforementioned BK Strategies poll (see Minnesota Senate above) tested two Democratic candidates against former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R).  In a previous question, the pollsters determined that Mr. Pawlenty is leading his officially endorsed Republican primary opponent as the state primary approaches on August 14th.  The former two-term chief executive leads Jeff Johnson, a Hennepin County Commissioner who was the party’s 2014 gubernatorial nominee, 54-20%. 
 
Perhaps surprisingly, because Mr. Pawlenty previously won two statewide gubernatorial campaigns in adverse Republican election years, he trails both tested Democratic candidates in this BK poll.  This includes US Rep. Tim Walz (D-Mankato) who only represents 1/8 of the state.
 
According to the ballot test numbers, Attorney General Lori Swanson (D) is staked to a 46-41% edge over former Gov. Pawlenty.  Rep. Walz performs even better, leading Mr. Pawlenty, 48-41%.  Curiously, state Rep. Erin Murphy (D-St. Paul), the officially endorsed DFL candidate, was not even tested in this particular survey.