* 13th Congressional Democratic nominee David Gill released a poll last month showing he was leading the Republicans who wanted to replace incumbent Congressman Tim Johnson on the ballot. His lead over the eventual choice, Rodney Davis, was 10 points, 41-31.

We Ask America is out with a new poll, however, which has a big Davis lead over the Democratic candidate…

* However, there is a caveat. From the pollster…

Since our sample was evenly divided between the two parties and Independents, Gill is probably a point or so closer than this nine-point spread.

I’m not sure why the heck they would do that, but whatever. More…

Gill is well-known among a large portion of the Democratic base of IL-13 (especially in the Champaign-Urbana area) due to the fact that he won the Silver Medal in three out of the last three elections. Plus, Gill barely won the March Democratic primary in a real squeaker where he was not the Party’s Chosen One. His openly bitter post-primary attitude has left a lot of area Dems unimpressed. Those wounds may heal, but in the meantime, Davis has received a lot of earned media in the last month. Gill hasn’t had a real chance to “define” Davis yet, so this one is like trying to decide the winner of a horse race a few seconds after the gate opens.

Davis is out to an early lead, but expect Gill to go the whip sooner than later.

*** UPDATE *** Davis was just put into the NRCC’s “Young Guns” program. From a press release…

Rodney Davis, Republican candidate for the 13th Congressional District, has been named to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s “Young Guns” program. The program, founded by Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Paul Ryan (R-WI) in the 2007-2008 election cycle, is the primary method for recruiting strong candidates for open-seat races like the 13th District.



“Rodney Davis has met a series of rigorous goals that will put him in a position to win on Election Day,” said NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX). “The momentum behind his campaign is proof-positive that Americans are fed up with Nancy Pelosi policies that spend too much, tax too much, and borrow too much at the expense of hard-working Illinois families. Rodney Davis is leading the pack as Republicans continue to send a loud and clear message that we will hold Democrats accountable for their unpopular partisan agenda.”