* Press release…
A new poll of Illinois’ 17th Congressional District Democratic voters conducted last week shows former state Rep. Litesa Wallace leading a crowded field of deep-pocketed rivals.
According to the poll by Triton Polling & Research of 522 registered voters and paid for by the Wallace campaign, she leads with 22.1 percent of the vote, trailed by former regional weatherman Eric Sorenson with 18.6 percent and nobody else in the field garnering more than 9 percent.
Rockford alderman Jonathan Logemann, preferred by many establishment figures, netted only 4.9 percent in a poll with a 4.3 percent margin of error.
Wallace’s name identification showed room to grow at 43.6 percent, compared to Sorenson at 51.4. Logemann was at 31.1 percent.
Wallace was trusted to “get things done for working families” by 20.9 percent of the respondents, leading the field.
“Voters know Litesa’s an advocate who gets things done for women, children and working families,” said Dulana Reese, Wallace campaign manager.
The polling began on May 2nd, the day Politico published the leaked U.S. Supreme Court opinion showing the vote to eliminate Roe vs. Wade abortion protections. It concluded May 5th.
“Once voters realize that abortion rights are on the ballot in November and that Rep. Wallace has a proven track record of making Illinois a haven state and standing up for reproductive freedom, we expect Litesa’s advantage to grow,” Reese said.
“The Republican frontrunner in this race is Esther Joy King, an extremist on abortion who believes in no exceptions for girls and women, even in cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother. Rep. Wallace will bring the biggest contrast in our efforts to retain the seat currently held by Rep. Cheri Bustos,” Reese said.
Rep. Wallace previously served three terms in Springfield as the State Representative from Rockford’s 67th District. She gained national attention in 2018 when she ran for Lt. Governor alongside Daniel Biss in the Democratic primary for Governor.
She has been endorsed by SEIU Illinois, Winnebago County Citizens for Choice, the Collective PAC, Democracy for America, and a long list of elected officials in the 17th District and across Illinois.
Rep. Wallace is running to represent the newly drawn 17th District, which includes most of Peoria, Rockford, Freeport, the Quad Cities, Bloomington-Normal, Macomb, and Galesburg.
The poll was taken May 2-5. Click here for the toplines, which show that 60 percent of respondents said they always vote and another 35 percent said they were very likely to vote in the primary.
* There was also this mild push question asked after the favorability and head-to-head questions (with initial head to head results in parentheses)…
Of the candidates for Representative of U.S. House Illinois District 17, who do you trust to get things done for working families?
Alderman Jonathan Logemann 5.8 (4.9)
Cannabis lobbyist Jacqueline McGowan 4.5 (2.3)
County Board Member Angie Normoyle 8.0 (7.7)
TV Weatherman Eric Sorensen 16.8 (18.6)
Counselor & Experienced Legislator Litesa Wallace 20.9 (22.1)
Admissions advisor Marsha Williams 0.9 (2.9)
Not Sure / Don’t Know 43.1 (41.5)
Kinda interesting that her numbers went down a tiny bit when “experienced legislator” was mentioned.
More on the candidates here.
- New Day - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 3:45 pm:
Got a call from the weatherman the other day asking for $$. He did a really nice job of not taking no for an answer, though in the end I did say no. Just know nothing about him and the race. But he’s clearly working it hard if he’s calling me.
- RKFD guy - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 3:47 pm:
I think the only other poll had Sorensen up, so seems like the two of them are perhaps pulling away. But Jonathan’s Labor backing is going to help him somewhat.
And did you also notice that “Cannabis lobbyist” got McGowan’s support to almost double?
- NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 3:57 pm:
==Bloomington-Normal==
I’m still surprised that David Gill didn’t try to enter this race.
- Lake Villa Township - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 4:01 pm:
Fun fact the Biss Wallace ticket won McLean in the primary in 2018
- RTT - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 4:25 pm:
Before the Roe leak, I thought it was dumb for the Democrats to run a man against Esther Joy King, it’s an even worse idea now. Anti-choicers will universally vote for King, no matter who the Democrat is. Democrats need someone who women will trust to have their backs and who knows how to talk about the issue. That’s Wallace.
- Quibbler - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 4:31 pm:
I also got a call from Sorenson, and he was extremely unimpressive. Strictly platitudes, resorted immediately to a limited set of talking points about his bio when asked even the most basic questions about his campaign and policy positions.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 4:31 pm:
The City is gonna City?
Also a feel like…
“Ask for forgiveness, not permission”
… kinda governing vibe?
- Soccermom - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 4:33 pm:
RKFD — that first poll had Sorenson and Wallace within the margin of error (so basically tied.) This suggests that she’s pulling ahead
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 4:43 pm:
==Kinda interesting that her numbers went down a tiny bit when “experienced legislator” was mentioned.==
“TV Weatherman” seems to have had a similar (slightly larger) affect.
- Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 4:44 pm:
Anonymous 4:43 was me.
- interesting race.... - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 4:50 pm:
Should be an interesting primary. Based purely on this poll and scanning how much cash on hand each candidate had in their last filing, I’d rather be Sorensen than anyone else. I wonder if there will be much outside spending or late fundraising surges.
- Illinois - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 5:34 pm:
True toss-up primary in the Dem-leaning CD 17. Logemann, for having the quiet backing of Bustos and now the public backing of the AFL-CIO, you would think is the front runner. Name ID for the TV weatherman pushes him to the front of the line. Wallace comes across well in public speaking opportunities, isn’t working the whole district. Normoyle is running at the voice of Rock Island County, the largest vote area of the new district, and has personal resources to drop in. Toss up at this point.
- Soccermom - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 5:50 pm:
Illinois - I don’t know why you’d say Litesa isn’t working the whole district. Here she is on WMBD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk3PWdQ-dk0&ab_channel=WMBDNews
- RTT - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 6:02 pm:
Illinois - Wallace has had multiple events organized by supporters in every major area of the district - Rock Island, Peoria, Galesburg, Macomb, Bloomington Normal, Freeport, and Rockford. She got signatures from every county. How is that not working the whole district?
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 7:18 pm:
This is a press release from the Wallace campaign? Why would they release this? This really looks like an effort to convince a small group of people “Look, we still have a chance.”
Yes, it is a six way primary but Litesa Wallace spent several years in office. I have a lot of respect for her but I am really surprised this is the state of her campaign. I haven’t tracked her race but when I tried to find out her exact announcement date there was a press piece about her announcing hiring a campaign manager on March 15th of this year. Not even two months ago? Her campaign manager hasn’t even updated her twitter bio or LinkedIn to reflect her role managing a congressional campaign — which is supposed to be a big deal. Wallace only reported $39,000 cash on hand at for the 1st Quarter.
These are not good indicators and this is not the performance I would have expected from a former state legislator, but it really reinforces what Speaker Welch has said about doing the work.
Nikki Budzinski had nearly three quarters of a million dollars on hand at the end of the 1st quarter. That’s kind of what I would have expected to see from Litesa Wallace and because I haven’t been paying much attention I am just surprised to see her campaign going so poorly.
The only positive note for her campaign, and that’s maybe why this press release exists, is that it’s not going that well for the other candidates who I am also not very familiar with and if you’re like me you should follow the link Rich provided to an excellent piece of student reporting.
If Wallace is going to be the nominee, she’s got a real slog ahead of her. There’s going to need to be a lot more work done to win an R+2 district.
- Yooper in Diaspora - Tuesday, May 10, 22 @ 10:07 pm:
Agree with Quibbler on Sorenson. Wallace is a WIU graduate (who fought hard to keep funding going to WIU and some other regionals in the Rauner years) so I don’t think the AFL-CIO support of Logemann will go that far in western Illinois. Wallace has the most experience legislatively and also perhaps the broadest experience, issue-wise.
- David - Wednesday, May 11, 22 @ 2:22 pm:
Sorenson certainly does have name recognition but as others have pointed out in this comment section- he is NOT a substantive candidate. He’s not getting out there and meeting with folks enough - he’s mainly focused on fundraising and his model trains in his basement. He’s riding on his name alone and we need someone who actually cares for the people in the district… not just the office title. Litesa and Logemann have been getting out there, holding events, meeting with various groups and have been impressive. I’m happy with either of those two.