-By Warner Todd Huston
A recent Rasmussen poll shows that incumbent accidental Governor Democrat Pat Quinn is not doing so well with Illinois voters. It also shows that Illinois voters favor a generic Republican over a generic Democrat.
Former Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, who succeeded to the state’s top office following Blagojevich’s impeachment, is expected to seek a full term as governor next year. Forty-five percent (45%) of Illinois voters approve of the job Quinn has been doing in his short time in office, but 53% disapprove, including 25% who strongly disapprove. In August [LINK], 47% approved of Quinn’s job performance while 49% somewhat or strongly disapproved.
Just 16% of Illinois voters share a very favorable opinion of their governor, while 18% view Quinn very unfavorably. Those numbers are a slight improvement from August, when only 11% viewed Quinn very favorably and 20% shared a very unfavorable opinion.
As far as the Republicans go, it appears that most Illinoisans have no clue who they are. But it shows no real major leader among them at this time.
Out of a list of potential Republican challengers, voters seem to recognize former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan most. Sixteen percent (16%) of voters have a very favorable opinion of Ryan while 12% share a very unfavorable view of him. Another 26% have no opinion of one of the state’s most prominent Republicans.
State Senator Bill Brady earns very favorable reviews from just 5% of voters, while 8% view him very unfavorably. The plurality of voters in Illinois (44%) has no opinion of Brady, who also ran for Governor in 2006.
Fellow State Senator Kirk Dillard is viewed very favorably by 10% and very unfavorably by 6%. Forty-five percent (45%) of Illinois voters have no opinion of him yet.
Former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andrew McKenna is viewed very favorably by 8% and very unfavorably by 8%. Nearly half of voters in the state (47%) do not know enough about him to form an opinion.
Political commentator Dan Proft earns very favorable ratings from just 4% of voters in the state, while 7% share a very unfavorable view of him. Most voters (54%) share no opinion.
Finally, Dupage Country Board Chairman Bob Schillerstorm is viewed very favorably by just 3% and very unfavorably by only 6%. Fifty-five percent (55%) have no opinion of him.
The Raz poll finds that 36% of respondents say they would pick a generic Republican over the 21% that said they’d pick the Democrat, so the GOP has a chance to capitalize on this if they do it right.
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.
He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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