'Minnesota Is in Play' in Presidential Election

Minnesota isn't exactly considered a battleground state in the 2016 presidential election. The state has gone blue in every presidential election since 1976.

Neither Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton nor Republican rival Donald Trump have hosted a single public event in Minnesota this campaign season.

However, a new poll shows that the state is far from a lock for Clinton.

A KSTP/SurveyUSA poll shows Clinton leading Trump 46 percent to 39 percent.

"Minnesota is in play," said Larry Jacobs of the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute.

First Presidential Debate: What Questions Would You Ask Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton?

"Trump is only six or seven points behind and has not campaigned actively in Minnesota, whereas Democrats are counting on Minnesota and have actually put some money in. So I think these are surprising results."

"It's gotta be a wake-up call for the Clinton campaign that they can't take Minnesota for granted," Jacobs added.

The poll shows that third party candidates are also getting support, with Libertarian Party's Gary Johnson at six percent and Green Party's Jill Stein at two percent.

Six percent of likely voters said they are undecided.

Trump and Clinton are set to face off in the highly-anticipated first of three presidential debates at Hofstra University in New York on Monday evening.

The Debate Details:

When: Monday, September 26, 2016

Time: 9:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. EST; no commercial breaks

Where: Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York

Who: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, moderator Lester Holt of NBC News; Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein failed to make the debate based on recent polling.

Viewing: The debate will be aired live on C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, as well as all cable news channels including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC among others.

Format: The debate will be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on major topics selected by the moderator. The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic.

Join us for the Patch live stream and live blog Monday night (not to mention the Patch Presidential Debate Drinking Game).

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons