The new Rasmussen poll of the Illinois Senate race shows Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias taking a narrow lead over Republican Rep. Mark Kirk — or rather, it shows Kirk falling behind Giannoulias, in a race where both candidates are unpopular.
The numbers: Giannoulias 40%, Kirk 39%. The survey of likely voters has a ±4.5% margin of error. In the previous poll from a month ago, Kirk led by 42%-39%. The TPM Poll Average gives Kirk a narrow edges of 41.3%-38.9% in a two-way race, not including third-party candidates that could potentially pick up significant protest votes.
Both candidates have suffered from stories that have seriously hurt them with the public. In Giannoulias’s case, it’s the failure of his family’s bank, and for Kirk it’s his long history of making false statements about his military service. In this new poll Giannoulias’s favorable rating is at only 43%, with 46% unfavorable — and Kirk is at an even worse 39%-48%.
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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