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Biss wins Dem straw poll

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Illinois

* From the Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association…

Today the Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association (IDCCA) announced the results of their online straw poll conducted from Monday January 23rd to midnight on Sunday January 29th. The poll asked respondents to select their preferred Democrat candidate to run for Governor and Lt. Governor in 2018. The result was comprised of its existing members and Democrats who joined the organization via online submission of name, email, and zip code. More than 5,352 ballots were cast online.

* Results…

The straw poll results are as follows. These results were tabulated from 5,352 responses and examined for duplicates and interference by IDCCA team members. This poll is not a scientific representation of the Democratic Primary electorate.

State Senator Daniel Biss, 25%, 1339 votes
Alderman Ameya Pawar, 15%, 806 votes
Chris Kennedy, 12%, 617 votes
Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, 11%, 602 votes
J.B. Pritzker, 10%, 550 votes
State Senator Andy Manar, 7%, 356 votes
Congresswoman Robin Kelly, 4%, 238 votes
State Senator Kwame Raoul, 2%, 113 votes
City Treasurer Kurt Summers, 1%, 80 votes

* 13% (651 votes) of responses were for write in candidates.

Write in Candidates:

Attorney General Lisa Madigan, 87 votes
Governor Pat Quinn, 45 votes
US Senator Dick Durbin, 41 votes
Alex Paterakis, 39 votes
State Treasurer Mike Frerichs, 24 votes

Lt. Governor votes are currently being tallied and will be posted as soon as they are available.

Alex Paterakis is running a campaign of sorts on social media.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 8:32 am

Comments

I pray Pritzker runs.

Comment by Shameonbruce Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 8:34 am
Real candidates clearly didn’t spend on any time on this.

A smart and thoughtful way to accumulate emails, but totally meaningless. I voted, and it seemed like there was no filter to keep people from voting multiple times.

Comment by Rahm's Middle Finger Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 8:37 am
This is mostly just silly. But, like the Iowa straw poll, it does take at least a modicum of organization and enthusiasm to win these things. So, score a minor victory for Biss.

Comment by Roman Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 8:47 am
Rich: any idea who will run for the other Constitutional Offices? Might be even more interesting to see who the Republicans are for those spots because of the “D’s” being incumbents.

Comment by Archway Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 8:49 am
As is a horse race, there is always an early sprinter that leads at the 1/4 mile; only to be left in the dust by the stalkers and late closers. Biss is just such a candidate, his $475,000 campaign funds should keep him relevant till about June.

Comment by Donnie Elgin Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 8:57 am
Perhaps one of the those Hawk Harrelson alarm clocks could be given to Rep. Drury.

Comment by Bogey Golfer Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:02 am
I know it doesn’t mean much, but was anyone else surprised to see Pawar come in strong 2d.

Comment by SAP Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:02 am
Interesting. The question is will the Democrats eat each other alive before they even get to Rauner?

Comment by Mahna Anon Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:03 am
=his $475,000 campaign funds should keep him relevant till about June.=

Yeah, because Biss has proven he’s such an ineffective fundraiser.
/s

Comment by AnonInQC Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:03 am
The only surprise for me here is how well Kennedy did, and just how poorly Summers did. Glad to see Biss at the top.

Comment by LeonDespres Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:05 am
I didn’t vote. I was prompted multiple times by a sponsored ad and I still didn’t vote. I might have voted, but when I finally tapped on the add on my phone it prompted me for a lot of information and I was pretty busy at the time.

I would have written in Barack Obama — so it’s not exactly fruitful.

There’s some pretty obvious validity issues with this kind of poll. Especially if the person sponsoring the add dropped a bunch of bucks on people who have liked Daniel Biss on Facebook.

While it’s not bad to win this poll, it’s also not bad losing it. I hope no one is planning on taking a victory lap.

Comment by Anon Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:13 am
@Donnie Elgin

True, but sometimes the early speed grabs an easy lead, sets soft fractions, and has plenty left hold off the stretch runners.

Comment by Phil Georgeff Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:20 am
–Might be even more interesting to see who the Republicans are for those spots because of the “D’s” being incumbents.–

Well Jesse White says he is done, but we’ll see.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:22 am
The very low number of “voters” reveals the lack of importance of this.

Comment by Elliott Ness Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:27 am
I don’t claim to know everybody in state politics, but as a downstater, I don’t recall ever hearing of the top two on this list, or the last guy; they are going to have a BIG name recognition problem downstate.
I have at least heard the name of the rest of them, and know maybe a little about them.
Also know that a lot of commenters on here wish that Pat Quinn would just go away, but kind of surprised that he wasn’t listed.

Comment by downstate commissioner Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:36 am
I’m surprised to see that Pat Quinn has 45 individual e-mail accounts of his own! /s

Comment by G'Kar Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 9:52 am
===I know it doesn’t mean much, but was anyone else surprised to see Pawar come in strong 2d.===

No. He is an announced candidate. The best comparison I can make is to Eugene McCarthy in the ‘68 dem primary. He forced LBJ out, but went nowhere after. As an announced candidate, Pawar should have done well. But as other, more well-known people jump in, he will fade.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 10:12 am
Senator Biss, congratulations… you won an online poll!

I’m sorry, but if you can get squeezed out of a race for Comptroller by Susana Mendoza you can’t be the Democratic nominee for Governor.

Plus, those Lift ads were a total and complete waste of $10 million. Is he really going to attack Rauner by saying he’s going to steal the golf clubs out of your car when have a flat tire?

I had high hopes for Biss… but the last year has made me rethink his electability to any statewide office. He should just hold tight until Jan Schakowsky retires.

Comment by Wizzard of Ozzie Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 10:41 am
wow, Biss only got 25%? when Pawar gets 10% less than Biss who is all over the place, and for some time, it’s interesting.

Comment by Amalia Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 10:55 am
I cannot believe that the County Chairmen felt that Biss was a real contender. The world of political races has changed recently, until there are limits places on spending, fires must be fought with fire, Pritzker is number one.

Comment by Grandpa Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 11:08 am
Iam with you Grandpa Pritzker is number one in my book maybe Biss mit what to be Lt gov.

Comment by quincy Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 11:34 am
Results clearly show a preference to candidates with existing progressive networks online (especially Biss) … Kennedy top three finish is a win for him … but the real winners are the county chairs who gained new e-mail contacts through the poll.

Comment by Downstate Dem Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 11:35 am
Costello for governor.

Comment by Blue dog dem Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 12:22 pm
I’m one of the 25% who voted for Biss.

I just can’t see a self-funder making the argument against Rauner.

Biss is going to need to raise funds, but he’s not going to need $50 mill in a blue state. He just needs to define himself as a Democrat and let the fact that he’s not named “Quinn” do the rest.

Comment by Gooner Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 1:08 pm
I did not vote but Kennedy / Costello is a ticket I could support

Comment by my2cents Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 2:13 pm
Biss had his buddy John Green (who has a huge following of Nerdfighters) push the poll out to his twitter followers. Wonder how many are actually in Illinois?

Comment by Moist von Lipwig Monday, Jan 30, 17 @ 6:59 pm