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Polls show dead heat in Illinois governor's raceCHICAGO (AllPolitics, October 22) -- Once-trailing Democrat Glenn Poshard is now in a dead heat in the Illinois governor's race against Republican George Ryan, a newly released poll finds. With the retirement of Republican Gov. Jim Edgar, Poshard's new surge gives the Democratic party its best opportunity to win a gubernatorial election in the state since 1972.
With less than two weeks to go until the November 3 election, a Chicago Sun-Times/WBBM-TV survey shows Ryan with 44 percent to Poshard's 42 percent. The difference is within the poll's margin of sampling error of five percentage points, which makes it a statistical dead heat. The Poshard camp believes the new poll is accurate. "The trend showed in this poll is certainly consistent with what we hear from our precinct captains out in the field," said Poshard's campaign manager, Josh Silverman. A similar survey just six weeks ago put Ryan ahead 52 percent to 34 percent for Poshard. Recent polls by other media outlets also showed Ryan still holding a sizable lead. Poshard's jump appears tied to a federal investigation of alleged selling of truck drivers' licenses by some employees of the secretary of state's office, which Ryan heads. Ryan is not a target of the probe. One Poshard campaign ad draws a link between the sale of the illegal licenses and a man, who was allegedly driving with one when he caused a 1994 truck-van collision that killed six children in one family.
Three of five voters surveyed said they were aware that secretary of state workers had been indicted. Nearly a third of all voters said the situation made them less likely to vote for Ryan. "The pollster's data is as extreme as Poshard is on the issues," said Ryan's campaign. "But our response is the same as it always is... George Ryan will continue to work hard in every corner of the state until November third." Without the ad about truck driver's licenses, Poshard, a five-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, has been hard pressed to differentiate himself from Ryan, a former lieutenant governor and now secretary of state. Ryan is otherwise an uncontroversial, moderate Republican while Poshard is a relatively conservative Democrat. Both are Army veterans and both are opposed to abortion. Perhaps the biggest divide between the two candidates is money. Ryan has the backing of the outgoing governor and the state's GOP political establishment. While the AFL-CIO has promised to support Poshard's candidacy, he has not taken money from political action committees and he has had trouble rallying Chicago Democrats. Some liberals in the party are angered by his opposition to abortion and many gun-control measures. University professor Paul Green noted Poshard had very little money to attack Ryan. "If you take away the ad (on licenses), and if you take away the impact of the ad and the substance of the ad, Mr. Poshard is in a situation where he really needs a miraculous comeback," Green said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.MORE STORIES:Thursday, October 22, 1998
• Clinton signs charter school bill • Doggie diplomacy: Floppy-eared Buddy to the rescue • IRS wins a round in battle over taxing restaurant tips • Congress finally adjourns after completing work on budget • Clinton staffers face legal bills from Lewinsky investigation
• Davis leads California governor's race • Fred Tuttle: One candidate hoping to lose this November • Polls show dead heat in Illinois governor's race • Feingold faces tough re-election fight in Wisconsin • N.Y. Senate race a war of words • Prostitution becomes issue in Minnesota governor race • No money, no backing, no worries for perennial candidate • Race taints California Senate race • Anger over Lungren's claim in California governor race • GOP candidate admits to fathering child while separated from wife | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
