Klobuchar and Craig top favorability ratings of Minnesota elected officials (fall 2025)

We're thrilled to welcome Craig Helmstetter, Ph.D., as a guest author today. He was APM Research Lab's founding Managing Partner and led the organization until 2025. A member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, he serves on its Transparency Initiative Coordinating Committee.

Next week, we plan to publish an analysis of Minnesotans' views of cannabis. You can also expect fresh favorability ratings of key political figures throughout the year, including of leading Democratic and Republican candidates for governor and senate.

By Craig Helmstetter

Gov. Tim Walz’s announcement that he is withdrawing from a bid for what would be a historic third term amounts to an earthquake for Minnesota’s political landscape.

Among Minnesota’s elected officials, four-term U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is considering a run for governor. Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and U.S. Rep. Angie Craig so far appear committed to their respective bids to fill a seat opened by Sen. Tina Smith’s upcoming retirement.

A fall 2025 Minnesota Community Survey, with a representative sample of more than 1,100 adult Minnesotans, found that 58% viewed Klobuchar favorably. Nearly 1 in 4 viewed her very favorably.

Slightly fewer Minnesotans rated Craig as very favorable, but a large proportion – 44% – rated her as mostly favorable. 

At 47%, Trump had far and away the highest very unfavorable rating in the poll, which was conducted Sept. 25 to Nov. 6, 2025. A budget impasse led to a 43-day federal government shutdown, starting on Oct. 1.

The poll took place before accusations of fraud and lax oversight of government programs intensified in the weeks leading up to Walz's decision.

Klobuchar and Craig lead in net favorability

Klobuchar and Craig ranked highest in net favorability, which shows the percent favorable minus the percent unfavorable. For example, Klobuchar had a +19 favorability rating: 58% of Minnesotans viewed her very or mostly favorably, and 39% viewed her very or mostly unfavorably.

Trump’s ratings were underwater. That is, more respondents expressed an unfavorable impression of the president than a favorable one.

Favorability ratings of politicians are highly related to political affiliation. All DFLers included in the poll had strong net favorability ratings among Democrats or independents who lean Democratic. Similarly, Trump had a strong +62% net favorability rating among Minnesota Republicans and Republican leaners.

By contrast, all DFL politicians included in the poll had negative net favorability ratings from Minnesota Republicans.  Views varied by official: Craig and Klobuchar were 30 points underwater with Republicans, while Flanagan was more than 50 points underwater.

Walz had a negative 71-point rating among Minnesota Republicans. However, it’s not quite as low as Trump’s negative 87-point rating among Minnesota Democrats.

Democrats drive Klobuchar favorability decline from summer to fall 2025

Lumaris Research’s summer 2025 Minnesota Community Survey included favorability ratings for all of these figures. The results of the two surveys are very similar, except for Klobuchar. Amid a federal government shutdown, her net favorability dropped by 9 points, including a 12-point decline among Minnesota Democrats (from a very high +75 to a still high +63).