MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Barack Obama will soon find out if a last-minute tightening of presidential polls in Minnesota means he’ll lose a state that’s reliably backed Democrats for decades.

Both Obama and Mitt Romney ignored Minnesota for most of the race, but it got last-minute attention from both campaigns after a recent poll showed only a small lead for the Democrat. Both campaigns aired TV ads here, and sent high-profile surrogates in the form of Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan for Romney and former President Bill Clinton for Obama.

Obama did open campaign offices throughout the state. Romney had not bothered to match that infrastructure, as both parties had expected Minnesota to go for Obama.

Minnesota has backed Democrats in every cycle since Richard Nixon won it in 1972.

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