Rauner, Pritzker lead poll

2018 Illinois primary election

Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute has released its first poll for 2018. 

The most recent version of the Simon Poll shows Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrat businessman JB Pritzker leading their respective party’s primaries. 

Rauner leads challenger Jeanne Ives, a state representative from Wheaton, by 20 points, 51 percent to 31 percent. 

Pritzker leads State Sen. Daniel Biss of Evanston in the crowded Democratic primary by 10 points, 31 percent to 21 percent. 

Former University of Illinois Board of Trustees Chairman Chris Kennedy trails in third place at 17 percent. 

In hypothetical general election matchups, Rauner trails both leading Democratic candidates by similar margins: Pritzker leads Rauner 50 percent to 35 percent; Biss leads Rauner 48 percent to 34 percent. 

“It’s interesting that Pritzker’s and Biss’s margins over Rauner are essentially the same in the Simon Poll,” Charlie Leonard, an institute visiting professor involved in the polling, said. 

“One explanation may be that in the minds of voters, who may know little about either Biss or Pritzker, the decision may come down to ‘Rauner versus not-Rauner.’ If the election were held today, I’d rather be ‘not-Rauner.’” 

Both Pritzker and Biss lead the governor by wide margins in the City of Chicago and the Chicago suburbs, while downstate, Rauner leads Pritzer by 3 points and leads Biss by 8 points, keeping in mind the smaller sample sizes and wider margins for error in the geographic subgroups. 

“It is three weeks to go until the March 20 primary and major events could still move these numbers,” said John S. Jackson, another designer of the poll. 

In the Republican primary for attorney general, Harvard Law graduate and Champaign-Urbana attorney Erika Harold, who is well known in Republican political circles, leads the lesser-known Gary Grasso, a DuPage County board member, 18 percent to 14 percent, with almost two-thirds undecided. 

Eight candidates are vying for the Democratic party nomination for attorney general. State Sen. Kwame Raoul of Chicago leads the pack with 22 percent of those responding, with former Gov. Pat Quinn with 18 percent. 

None of the other candidates register double-digit support and 39 percent are undecided. 

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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