Illinois Voters Want Rod Blagojevich Stripped of His Appointment Powers
The survey results clearly show that Illinois voters are very dissatisfied with Rod Blagojevich and the Democrat leadership. The voters want Rod Blagojevich stripped of his appointment powers so he can’t pick the next US Senator. Instead, the voters are calling for a special election to fill Barack Obama’s US Senate seat. If the Democrats don’t strip Rod Blagojevich’s appointment powers, the voters would be outraged. Democrats endorsed Rod Blagojevich’s re-election in 2006 despite him being under investigation and the numbers clearly show that the Democrats will pay a high price.
- Illinois voters are sending a strong message to Democrats who control every level of state government. An overwhelming majority (79%) believes things in Illinois are headed off on the wrong track. Only 14% thinks things are going in the right direction. This very strong negative sentiment cuts across party lines.
- Regardless of party affiliation, most Illinois voters (88%) have an unfavorable opinion of Rod Blagojevich. Only 8% has a favorable opinion of him.
- Two-thirds (66%) of the electorate favors the state legislature passing a new law requiring a special election to fill Barack Obama’s unexpired term as US Senator rather than letting the Governor pick the next US Senator. Only 26% oppose a special election. This large majority support for a special election is strongest among Republicans (74%) but is also strong among Democrats (64%) and Independents (65%). In the collar counties and downstate, the support for a special election is huge (71% and 70% respectively).
- 70% of voters would be less likely to vote for a candidate for office in Illinois who supported or endorsed Rod Blagojevich’s re-election for Governor in 2006 even though he was already under investigation for 3-years. The “less likely to vote” result is strongest among Republicans (82%) but is also strong among Democrats (66%), Independents (66%), and voters in Cook County (65%), City of Chicago (65%) and the collar counties (76%). Clearly, Democrats who are tied to Blagojevich are vulnerable.
Methodology: This Illinois statewide survey of 600 likely voters was conducted on December 15, 2008.
All interviews were conducted by professional interviewers via telephone. Interview selection was at random within predetermined geographic units. These units were structured to statistically correlate with actual general election turnout.
The accuracy of the sample of 600 likely voters is within +/- 4.0% at a 95% confidence interval. Below is the verbatim wording of the questions.
Would you say things in Illinois are headed in the right direction, or would you say things are headed off on the wrong track?
|
|
Total |
Chicago
Market |
Cook
County |
City of
Chicago |
Collar Counties |
Rest of
State |
Rep |
Dem |
Ind |
|
Right Direc. |
14 |
15 |
19 |
27 |
10 |
11 |
9 |
20 |
7 |
|
Wrong Track |
79 |
75 |
70 |
60 |
81 |
85 |
88 |
70 |
84 |
|
Don’t Know |
8 |
10 |
11 |
13 |
9 |
4 |
3 |
10 |
9 |
Will you please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Rod Blagojevich? If you have no opinion or have never heard of him, just say so.
|
|
Total |
Chicago
Market |
Cook
County |
City of
Chicago |
Collar Counties |
Rest of
State |
Rep |
Dem |
Ind |
|
Favorable |
8 |
10 |
12 |
19 |
7 |
5 |
6 |
10 |
7 |
|
Unfavorable |
88 |
86 |
83 |
76 |
91 |
93 |
93 |
85 |
89 |
|
No Opinion |
3 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
Do you favor or oppose the State Legislature passing a new law requiring a special election to fill Barack Obama's unexpired term as US Senator rather than letting the Governor pick the next Senator?
|
|
Total |
Chicago
Market |
Cook
County |
City of
Chicago |
Collar Counties |
Rest of
State |
Rep |
Dem |
Ind |
|
Favor |
66 |
64 |
61 |
58 |
71 |
70 |
74 |
64 |
65 |
|
Oppose |
26 |
28 |
30 |
30 |
24 |
22 |
19 |
31 |
22 |
|
Don’t Know |
8 |
8 |
9 |
12 |
5 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
13 |
If a candidate for office in Illinois supported or endorsed Rod Blagojevich’s re-election for Governor in 2006 even though he was already under investigation for 3 years, would that make you more or less likely to vote for that candidate? If it would make no difference, just say so.
|
|
Total |
Chicago
Market |
Cook
County |
City of
Chicago |
Collar Counties |
Rest of
State |
Rep |
Dem |
Ind |
|
More Likely |
5 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
7 |
3 |
|
Less Likely |
70 |
68 |
65 |
65 |
76 |
73 |
82 |
66 |
66 |
|
No Diff. |
20 |
22 |
26 |
28 |
16 |
18 |
12 |
24 |
23 |
|
Don’t Know |
5 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
