* Press release…

Our Revolution Illinois/Chicago released a new poll by Public Policy Polling on the Democratic race for Cook County Assessor in the March 20th primary election. The poll is the first to be publicly released in the race for Assessor. Since June 2017, Our Revolution Illinois/Chicago has made fixing the assessment process a key priority.

The polling memo shows that Our Revolution-endorsed candidate Fritz Kaegi with a large 44-27 lead over incumbent and Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Berrios. After voters are informed about both candidates, Kaegi’s lead jumps to 51% while Berrios’ support shrinks to 20%.

Berrios has overseen a property tax assessment system that unfairly overassesses homeowners in working and middle-class neighborhoods—especially in Black and Latino communities—while giving tax breaks to billionaires and owners of downtown skyscrapers.

“Voters are tired of pay-to-play and corruption by Joe Berrios and are ready for new leadership,” said Our Revolution Illinois/Chicago co-chair, Clem Balanoff. “Fritz will fix the broken system that punishes working and middle-class families, Blacks and Latinos, and will bring fairness and transparency to the Assessor’s office.”

“It is long past time for the Democratic Party to keep attempting to prop-up and cover-up for Joe Berrios. Institutional racism is not acceptable. Joe must go.” concluded Balanoff.

Joe Berrios was recently fined $41,000 for violating the Cook County Ethics Ordinance by taking political contributions in excess of legal limits. Joe Berrios has raised over $5 million for political committees he controls, over half of which comes from those who do business with his office. Joe Berrios has taken pay-to-play to a whole new level.

PPP surveyed likely Democratic primary voters in Cook County from February 6-7, 2018.

Our Revolution Illinois is dedicated to building on Bernie Sanders’ core set of values — the values and agenda that electrified Illinois voters in the March 2016 primary and won Bernie Sanders 24 of 50 wards in Chicago, 79 of Illinois’ 102 counties, 11 of 18 congressional districts and almost a million votes across the state.

* Polling memo…

From: Anniken Williams, Public Policy Polling
To: Interested Parties
Subject: Fritz Kaegi Has Big Lead For Cook County Asssessor
Date: February 8, 2018

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds that Democratic candidate Fritz Kaegi has a big lead in the upcoming Democratic primary election for Cook County Assessor. Kaegi is getting 44%, in contrast to Joseph Berrios who only receives 27% of the vote. After voters are informed about both candidates, Kaegi’s lead increases from 17 points to a 31 point lead over Berrios. 51% of voters say they will vote for Kaegi in the March election for Cook County Assessor, while Berrios’ support shrinks to 20% on the informed ballot.

Key findings from the survey include:

- Cook County voters are impressed by Kaegi’s promises to clean things up. A majority (52%) say they are more likely to vote for Kaegi after learning that he will clean things up by making tax assessments fair and ending pay-to-play policies currently in place in the office.

- When voters learn that Joe Berrios has been fined $41,000 recently by the Cook County Ethics Board for taking political contributions from those who do business with his office, fully 69% say they’re less likely to support him.

PPP surveyed 757 likely Democratic primary voters in Cook Co., IL from February 6-7, 2018. The margin of error for the poll is +/- 3.6%. This poll was conducted by automated telephone interviews for Our Revolution Illinois.