Poll: Mark Kirk an unknown Senator
Tuesday, Dec 3, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Public Policy Polling has released more details of its latest poll…
Almost halfway through his first term, Mark Kirk is one of the most anonymous Senators in the country. 32% approve of him, 32% disapprove, and the largest percentage at 37% doesn’t have an opinion about him one way or the other.
What’s interesting about Kirk’s numbers though is that while Republicans are not that enthused about him (only a 35/27 approval), Democrats don’t really have much of a problem with him compared to most Republican Senators (a 23/35 approval).
So, maybe Republican state legislators shouldn’t care all that much about what Sen. Kirk thinks of the pension reform bill. However…
That crossover support means he might not be an easy out in 2016- he ties Lisa Madigan at 41 in a hypothetical head to head, taking 15% of the Democratic vote while losing only 11% of Republicans.
That could be a sign of Kirk’s strength. More likely, though, it’s an indication that Lisa Madigan’s star is truly falling.
* Meanwhile…
As we’re finding most places Illinois voters strongly support raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour. 58% support such a move to only 34% who oppose it. The concept has overwhelming support from Democrats (77/19) and independents (57/30), and even 34% of Republicans favor it.
That’s pretty strong support, but I wonder if it would be as high if respondents were told that Illinois has the highest minimum wage of any of its neighboring states.
* Hilarious…
Who do you think’s done a better job this year: Congress or the Chicago Cubs?
Congress ………….. 9%
The Cubs …………. 67%
Not sure ………….. 23%
Man oh man.
* More…
Jay Cutler’s net favorability with voters in Illinois has declined a net 19 points over the last year from +26 (41/15) in November 2012 to now just +7 at 34/27.
I can’t believe he’s still net favorable.
* Methodology…
PPP surveyed 557 Illinois voters, including an oversample of 375 usual Republican primary voters, from November 22nd to 25th. The margin of error for the overall survey is +/- 4.2% and +/- 5.1% for the GOP sample. PPP’s surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.
