The new Rasmussen poll of the Illinois Senate race gives Republican Rep. Mark Kirk, who has taken heat over false statements about his military service, a narrow lead over Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.
The numbers: Kirk 42%, Giannoulias 39%. The survey of likely voters has a ±4.5% margin of error. In late April, when Giannoulias was in the midst of his own negative press surrounding the failure of his family’s bank, Kirk was ahead by 46%-38%. The TPM Poll Average gives Kirk a lead of 43%-38%.
From the pollster’s analysis: “Sixty-two percent (62%) of Illinois voters say they’ve been following news stories about Kirk and his military service, and 63% say this news is important in terms of how they vote this November. Thirty-two percent (32%) say Kirk’s misstatements about his military record are not important in how they vote.”
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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