A new Tribune/WGN-TV poll of the Illinois Senate race shows Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk tied at 34% each, with 22% of voters still undecided.
Both candidates have struggled with scandals and unfavorable media coverage. The poll found that 28% of voters hold an unfavorable opinion of Giannoulias, who has been hurt by his connections with his family’s recently-folded bank. The poll also found Kirk struggling to win over conservative voters — 36% of them say they have “no opinion on whether they like the GOP candidate.”
Meanwhile, Green Party candidate LeAlan Jones (6%) and Libertarian Party candidate Mike Labno (3%) attract enough voters for the Chicago Tribune to speculate that they could end up swaying the race one way or the other.
The TPM Poll Average for this race shows Kirk leading Giannoulias 41.3%-40.0%.
Eric Lach
Eric Lach is a reporter for TPM. From 2010 to 2011, he was a news writer in charge of the website’s front page. He has previously written for The Daily, NewYorker.com, GlobalPost and other publications. He can be reached at ericl(at)talkingpointsmemo.com
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