Hot on HuffPost:

See More Stories

MAIL

Elections Main
House
Senate
Governor
States
State Elections
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Ballot Initiatives
Video

FEED

Quinn Takes Lead in Illinois Governor Race; Senate Contest Tied

2 years ago

0 Comments Say Something »

Text Size

Contributing Editor

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who was suffering from high disapproval numbers and trailing in the Illinois governor race for much of the campaign, has opened up a 6 point lead over his Republican opponent, while the Senate race between Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk remains knotted up as it has been in other surveys, according to a Suffolk University poll conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 3.

While 54 percent of voters feel it is time to give someone else a chance in the governor's seat, Quinn is leading Republican state Sen. Bill Brady by 43 percent to 37 percent with 7 percent for Democrat-turned-independent Scott Lee Cohen, 3 percent for Green Party candidate Rich Whitney, 1 percent for Libertarian Lex Green and 8 percent undecided.

"Pat Quinn's TV ads have put Bill Brady under a microscope and are shifting voters' focus away from Quinn's slow progress in dealing with the mess he inherited from Governor Rod Blagojevich," said Suffolk's David Paleologos. "Quinn's efforts to focus voters on Brady's negatives are designed to make Quinn look better in comparison, while solidifying his base of support."

In the Senate race, Kirk leads Giannoulias by 42 percent to 41 percent with 4 percent for Green Part candidate LeAlan Jones, 3 percent for Libertarian Mike Labno and 10 percent undecided.

The margin of error for both races is 4.4 points.

A Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll conducted Sept. 23-28 had Quinn just one point ahead of Brady. The same poll had Giannoulias two points ahead of Kirk. The poll had a higher number of undecideds than the Suffolk survey.

The campaigns are being waved against a backdrop in which 65 percent of voters think the state is headed in the wrong direction and a majority is pessimistic about improvement on the job front in the next six months.

The major party candidates in both races are viewed negatively by voters.

Quinn is viewed unfavorably by 41 percent and favorably by 38 percent with 19 percent undecided. Voters disapprove of the job he is doing as governor by 46 percent to 40 percent with 14 percent undecided. Brady is viewed unfavorably by 32 percent and favorably by 28 percent, with 34 percent undecided.

Giannoulias is viewed unfavorably by 35 percent and favorably by 28 percent with 27 percent undecided and 10 percent saying they never heard of him. Kirk is viewed unfavorably by 31 percent and favorably by 27 percent, with 32 percent undecided and 10 percent saying they never heard of him.

One twist in the poll: voters regard President Obama favorably by a 52 percent to 41 percent margin with 6 percent undecided, but they have an even higher opinion of Hillary Clinton, seeing her favorably by 61 percent to 32 percent, with 7 percent undecided.

Follow Poll Watch on Twitter

Visit the Poll Watch Home Page and see all the latest polls in one place

Read Politics Daily's 2010 Elections Round-Up

Filed Under: Senate, Polls, Governors, Poll Watch, 2010 Elections

Tagged: 2010 Election Polls, 2010 Elections, 2010 Governor Elections, 2010 Governors Elections, 2010 Governors Races, 2010 Senate Elections, 2010 Senate Races, Alexi Giannoulias, Bill Brady, Illinois Elections, Illinois Governors Race, Illinois Senate Race, Lealan Jones, Lex Green, Mark Kirk, Mike Huckabee, Rich Whitney

Our New Approach to Comments

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.

Add a Comment

Sign in »

1 Comment

Filter by:

bobstejea

Quinn gave money to the brookfield zoo several months ago in the millions to buy votes.The state is broke and he is spending money like there is no tomorrow.We need changes from the Chicago corruption.He also bought the unios as usual and i being a retired union worker was never bought as i followed my freedom and not be obligated to vote for someone i dont trust.Wake up and throw these crooks out.

October 06 2010 at 12:59 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Mael

This poll is interesting. It appears to be assuming that the GOP percentage of voters will be less than in 2008 exit polls. The Tribune poll for instance did the same thing. I believe the next poll by either PPP or Rasmussen will show Brady nearly 10 points ahead. Kirk I believe is worse off than is being indicated by these polls. I also expect men to represent a large chuck of the electorate this time than indicated in these polls. Also I believe the independent vote is very much inflated in both of these polls. Just check the CNN exit polls.

October 04 2010 at 3:50 PM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down Reply