Pritzker Leads Bailey By Wide Margin In Illinois Governor's Race: Poll

CHICAGO — With less than four weeks to go until Election Day, a new poll finds first-term Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker leading his Republican opponent, State Sen. Darren Bailey, by a 15-point margin.

Conducted earlier this week by Public Policy Polling for Chicago Public Media, the parent company of WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, the survey found Pritzker with 49 percent to 34 percent for Bailey. Another 9 percent of voters were undecided and 8 percent supported Libertarian candidate Scott Schulter.

When asked whether they have favorable opinions of the two major party candidates, respondents were evenly split — 46 percent to 46 percent — on the governor, with the remaining 9 percent unsure, according to the Sun-Times/WBEZ.

But the 770 likely voters polled had a significantly more negative view of Bailey, despite being less familiar with him, with 52 percent having an unfavorable opinion of him and only 29 percent having a favorable opinion. Another 19 percent were not sure.

Pritzker held a 66-point lead in his hometown of Chicago, a narrow lead in the suburbs and was tied with Bailey in the Republican's native Southern Illinois, according to the poll.

The poll presented respondents with eight choices to pick what issue they found more important. Voters could also choose "something else/not sure." It found "jobs and the economy" was the top issue for 29 percent of voters, while 22 percent said "crime and public safety," 12 percent said "election integrity," 11 percent said "abortion" and 9 percent said "climate change and the environment."

Guns, taxes, education, affordable housing and homeless all scored lower than "something else/not sure."

This week's Public Policy Polling survey had a 3.5 percent margin of error, according to the Sun-Times/WBEZ, which did not provide the poll's methodology.

Two polls released late last month also indicated that Pritzker currently has the support of about half of likely voters.

One poll conducted by Fabrizio & Associates for the conservative People Who Play By The Rules PAC found Pritzker with a 50 percent to 45 percent lead over Bailey. That poll did not include Schulter, an Air Force veteran and the chairman of the Southern Illinois Libertarian Party, as an option.

And a Emerson College Polling/WGN-TV/The Hill survey found Pritzker had 51 percent to Bailey's 36 percent, with 8 percent undecided and 5 percent preferring "someone else." That poll also found the economy was the top issue for a plurality of voters, followed by "threats to democracy," access to abortion and crime.

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