For the first time, a
statewide poll has included state Sen. James Meeks in the gubernatorial mix,
but the results are not yet encouraging for the potential third party
candidate. Meeks is an African-American minister and state legislator who has
been threatening to run for governor for the past several weeks.
The poll, conducted by The
Glengariff Group, was taken March 30 through April 1. 600 registered Illinois
voters were surveyed and the poll has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
In a three-way contest
between Meeks, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, Topinka
has 40 percent to Blagojevich's 38 percent with Meeks trailing far behind at 7
percent. (All numbers in this column include voters who are leaning towards a
candidate - without "leaners" Topinka leads 36-35-5.)
>From the results, it
looks like Meeks is getting the "None of the Above" vote because most
people still probably don't know he's even considering a run, or don't know who
he is even if they have heard about his potential candidacy. One good
indication of this is the African-American vote. Gov. Blagojevich has 67
percent of the African-American vote to Topinka's 13 percent to Meeks' 10
percent. Results for these types of questions have a much higher margin of
error than the full results, but the results still indicate how little even his
core constituency knows about or currently supports Meeks' potential candidacy.
Still, he is making a dent. Without Meeks in the race, Blagojevich leads
Topinka 80-14 among black voters.
Without Meeks, the
Glengariff poll shows Topinka leading Blagojevich by three points, 44-41. The
pollster believes that Sen. Meeks is taking support equally from both
candidates.
Also without Meeks,
Topinka leads Blagojevich 50-33 in suburban Cook County, 51-35 in the suburban
"collar counties," 41-39 in west/northwest Illinois and 65-19 in
central Illinois. Blagojevich leads in Chicago 65-25 and in southern Illinois
51-37. Topinka leads Blagojevich among men 44-41. The two are tied among women,
42-42.
With Meeks, Topinka leads
in suburban Cook 46-30-7, in the collars 46-34-7, in west/northwest Illinois
42-33-9 and in central Illinois 55-19-15. Blagojevich has a 58-23-7 lead in
Chicago and a 48-32-8 lead in southern Illinois. Among men, Topinka leads
41-38-8, and she also leads with women, 39-38-8.
Again, the Meeks numbers
probably don't mean a lot right now because his campaign has not yet begun, but
the poll's results in the two-way contest are very similar to a Rasmussen poll
that was taken about the same time. That poll had Topinka leading Blagojevich
43-41. So the numbers look right. With a 4 percent margin of error in the
Glengariff poll, there's a 79 percent probability that Topinka actually leads
Blagojevich.
Meanwhile, the Glengariff
Group also polled the state treasurer's race. The pollster found Democratic
nominee Alexi Giannoulias leading state Sen. Christine Radogno 38-27. A third,
33 percent, were undecided. Giannoulias is a Democrat in a Democratic-leaning
state and he just won a primary, so it's understandable why he's ahead. Radogno
was unopposed in the Republican primary and received almost no media coverage.
Radogno led in suburban
Cook 37-36 and in central Illinois 41-19. Giannoulias led in the traditionally
Republican collar counties 35-28, in Chicago 55-12, in West/Northwest Illinois
34-33 and in southern Illinois 33-23. Giannoulias also led among men 37-28, and
women 38-27. Independents broke for Giannoulias 26-23 with 50 percent
undecided.
As expected, incumbent
Jesse White has a huge lead over challenger Dan Rutherford in the secretary of
state's race. According to Glengariff, a whopping 59 percent of registered
voters prefer White to just 28 percent for Rutherford.
Secretary White led in
every age group, in every region of the state, with both sexes and even took 21
percent of the Republican vote. Independents prefer White 55-24. The results
aren't surprising since White won all 102 counties in 2002. Rutherford's only
hope will be either a major (and unexpected) scandal, or if White is drafted to
run for Cook County Board President in the event that the ailing John Stroger
decides he can't run again. The offer hasn't been made yet, but White's people
aren't actively tamping down the replacement rumors.
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Rich Miller also publishes
Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter. He can be reached at
thecapitolfaxblog.com