This could be a tough year for Democrats, but so far, not in Illinois.
A new poll shows Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, the Democratic nominees for governor and the U.S. Senate, beating their Republican opponents.
The poll, conducted Monday through yesterday by Research 2000, shows Quinn leading presumptive GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady 47-32, with 20 percent of voters undecided.
Giannoulias leads U.S. Rep Mark Kirk, the Republican Senate nominee, 43-36, with 19 percent undecided.
The Democrats also have higher favorability ratings in the survey of 600 likely voters who said they regularly vote in state elections.
The poll, for the liberal blog Daily Kos, has a margin of error of 4 percent, low enough to show that the Democrats have statistically significant leads at this point in the general-election season.
The poll also confirms conventional political wisdom that state Sen. Kirk Dillard, the second-place Republican for governor, would perform better against Quinn than the more conservative Brady.
Dillard trails Quinn by 11 points, with 18 percent of voters undecided, while Brady trails by 15, with 20 percent undecided.
Dillard and Brady are locked in a vote-count stalemate as state officials cull through final results of each county in the state. At last count, the Brady campaign estimated that the candidates stood 247 votes apart, with Brady leading.
Windy Citizen 