Minnesotans have never flipped a U.S. Senate seat in back-to-back-to-back elections

Polling has been sparse in Minnesota's 2014 U.S. Senate race - a contest that a year ago was seemingly a slam dunk for one-term DFL incumbent Al Franken.

Franken's seat currently sits on the 'watch list' of D.C. prognosticators Charlie Cook and Larry Sabato - both identifying the race as a 'likely' hold for Franken, with the caveat that the race may yet become competitive.

Such caution seems validated in light of a new St. Cloud State University poll that was released on Wednesday, which shows Franken receiving a job approval rating of just 39 percent among his constituents - 18 points behind the state's senior delegation member Amy Klobuchar at 57 percent.

Fifty-one percent of Gopher State residents rated Franken's job performance negatively.

(The only bright spot of the St. Cloud State poll for the Franken campaign is that the survey was conducted of adults, not likely voters).

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