* I cannot believe I missed this poll from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute last month. 48.8 percent of southern Illinoisans said Cook County should be separated from Illinois, while 39 percent were opposed…

There has been a proposal to have Cook County separated from the rest of Illinois and to form its own state. Would you strongly favor, favor, oppose, or strongly oppose this proposal?

Strongly favor 33.3%
Favor 15.5%
Oppose 21.0%
Strongly oppose 18.0%
Donʼt know 12.3%

* And the overwhelming majority of southern Illinoisans believes that their region is getting less than its fair share of state spending…

And what do you think about government spending in your area of the state? In terms of its share of state spending, do you think your part of the state gets more than its fair share, about the right amount, or less than its fair share of state spending?

More than its fair share 3.3%
About the right amount 13.3%
Less than its fair share 79.3%
Donʼt know 4.3%

* Institute analysis…

Charles Leonard, a visiting professor at the Institute who supervised the poll, said, “This notion that downstate Illinois somehow does not belong with Cook County is consistent with the results of our 2010 Southern Illinois poll, in which large numbers of respondents also expressed antipathy toward Chicago.”

The poll also showed voters in the Southern Illinois region do not believe they are getting their fair share of state government spending. Almost eight in 10 (79 percent) said Southern Illinois gets “less than its fair share,” while only 3 percent said the region gets “more than our fair share.” About one in eight (13 percent) said the area gets “about the right amount.”

John Jackson, a visiting professor at the Institute and one of the authors of the poll, said: “Given that many political leaders and others constantly complain about Chicago, and about how badly Southern Illinois is treated by the state, and that significant portions of the media in Southern Illinois routinely echo that complaint, the belief in a downtrodden Southern Illinois has become a part of the conventional wisdom in this region.

“The belief is so embedded in the political culture that it undoubtedly is a root cause of the dominant attitude toward Cook County reflected in this question,” Jackson continued.

* Southern Illinoisans may lean toward secession, but they’re definitely not traditionally conservative on economic issues…

Which of these statements comes closer to your own views – even if neither is exactly right?

Most rich people today are wealthy mainly because of their own hard work, ambition, or education. 31.3%
Most rich people today are wealthy mainly because they know the right people or were born into a wealthy family. 51.5%
Neither 1.5%
Both equally 12.8%
Donʼt know 3.0%

Do you feel that the distribution of money and wealth in this country today is fair, or do you feel that the money and wealth in this country should be more evenly distributed among a larger percentage of the people?

Fair now 30.5%
Should be more even 59.0%
Donʼt know 10.5%

Do you think the federal government should or should not pursue policies that try to reduce the gap between wealthy and less well-off Americans?

Should pursue 51.0%
Should not pursue 38.3%
Donʼt know 10.8%

* There’s also been a statistically significant shift on gay marriage/civil unions since the Institute’s last poll in 2010…

* Methodology…

The poll of 400 registered voters covered the 18 southernmost counties in Illinois: Alexander, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Massac, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Union, Washington, White, and Williamson. Live phone interviews were conducted February 23-28. The sample of 400 has a margin of error of 4.9 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. This means that if we conducted the survey 100 times, in 95 of those instances, the result would be within plus or minus 4.9 percentage points from the results obtained here. We also included a special sample of cell phone users to ensure greater accuracy.

The poll was conducted by Issues & Answers of Virginia Beach, VA. It reports no Illinois political figures as clients. The poll was paid for with non-tax dollars from the Institute’s endowment fund.