Smith continues to underperform. Really a mistake in appointing her, just a weak candidate
Amy Klobuchar aside, Minnesota tends to be very fixed in its voting habits, as has been remarked on here before. Rarely does a Democrat win the state with more than 53% of the vote, and rarely do they win by more than low double digits. Republicans have a high floor here, of around 43-46% of the vote, but are rarely able to get the last few points needed for victory. For example, Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota's last Republican Governor, only got 47% of the vote in 2006, beating his Democratic opponent Mike Hatch by less than a percentage point. And Pawlenty was a relatively popular incumbent at the time.
