Poll: Stassen leads in GOP race in Minnesota
Willkie is a close second, while Dewey runs third in poll
By Dr. George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion
Lt. Cdr. Harold E. Stassen and Wendell L. Willkie are at present the two top choices of Minnesota Republican voters for the GOP presidential nomination this year. Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York runs a close third, with Gen. Douglas MacArthur fourth.
The opinions of Minnesota Republicans were sounded in a survey by the Institute in which each voter was asked to make his choice from a list of men most often discussed as possible presidential candidates. Those who named a Republican candidate indicated the following preferences at this time:
| Stassen | 31% |
| Willkie | 28% |
| Dewey | 25% |
| MacArthur | 12% |
| Bricker | 3% |
| Warren | 1% |
Lt. Cdr. Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota, has been serving in the Navy for nearly a year. His political backers in Minnesota have entered his name in the Nebraska presidential primary.
Throughout the West Central se4ction, which also includes Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, Republican rank-and-file sentiment today leans toward Governor Dewey, as the following table indicates:
| Dewey | 40% |
| Willkie | 23% |
| MacArthur | 19% |
| Stassen | 13% |
| Bricker | 3% |