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Washington Co. Among Top 10 US Counties To Watch On Election Day

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Roughly 100 million people are expected to watch Tuesday's first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Ahead of the debate, we talked to voters including some in Washington County. TheHill magazine recently named it one of 10 counties to watch nationwide during the presidential election.

From Oakdale to scenic Stillwater, Washington County voted twice for George W. Bush, twice for Barack Obama and in 2016, very narrowly for Hillary Clinton. A visit with voters here found passion coupled with deeply unflattering assessments of the other candidate.

Voter Morgan Swenson is voting for Joe Biden.

"I think Trump is a horrible person," Swenson said.

Ed Palmer is voting for Trump.

"I see what he is doing for the country and quite frankly it's an insult to me intellectually that Biden is the Democratic candidate," Palmer said.

A Star Tribune-Kare 11 poll found that Biden has a six point lead over Trump - 48 to 42. The most recent Minnesota poll found that 8% of voters are undecided. In 2016, the vast majority of undecided voters who made up their minds late broke for Donald Trump, which is one reason why so many of the polls were so wrong.

In Oakdale, we found two men who voted for Donald Trump in 2016. Alex Odegard is in the Biden column now.

"For Trump he's been here for four years and everything and I am kind of sick of him being in office," he said.

Andy Panier is officially undecided.

"I am kind of leaning towards Joe Biden," he said.

WCCO also spoke to a few young undecided voters, including Victor Bangura.

"I don't know who to vote for right now I am trying to see tonight," Bangura said.

Early voting has been underway in Minnesota since Sept. 18.

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