The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that most Minnesotans — 54 percent — approve of the job GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty is doing and “wont be influenced one way or another in their presidential voting if he ends up as John McCain ’s running mate.” Pawlenty’s approval rating is in “the same general range” it has been since he started his first term in 2003, the paper said. But it’s down 5 percentage points from last fall, and “his current 37 percent disapproval rating is the highest ever.” The poll of 1,203 adults was taken last week, at a time when Pawlenty was often being mentioned as a potential McCain running mate.

The Denver Post reports that the campaign of Democrat Betsy Markey conducted a poll of 400 likely district voters between May 13-15 and found her leading 4th District Rep. Marilyn Musgrave , R-Colo., 43 percent to 36 percent. The internal poll had a margin of error of 4.9 percent. Markey is a former aide to Sen. Ken Salazar , D-Colo. Democrats have been heartened by recent GOP setbacks in three special elections. Musgrave was first elected to serve the GOP stronghold in 2002. In 2006 she won re-election by only 3 percentage points. But Musgrave supporters challenged the poll’s results. “Guy Short, Musgrave’s chief of staff, said a poll done by the Musgrave camp in March showed her leading 47 percent to 42 percent,” the newspaper reports.