I'd like to use a lifeline, please.
GOP Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois has taken a nose dive in the latest
PPP survey and now trails Democrat Tammy Duckworth 42-36 in a potential head to head. Plus, Kirk's negatives are just outstanding.
Kirk was already struggling when we last polled the state in February--only 28% of voters approved of the job he was doing to 32% who disapproved. After getting involved in a series of controversies over the last five months his numbers have turned even more in the wrong direction--now only 25% approve of him with his disapproval spiking up to 42%.
Any Democrat running for the seat is also likely to get a boost in the state if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee.
She is up by anywhere from 9 to 18 points against the GOP hopefuls. The Republicans who come closest to Clinton are Jeb Bush who trails by 9 at 48/39, Rand Paul who trails by 10 at 47/37, and Scott Walker who trails by 11 at 50/39.
Same for Bernie.
We also tested Bernie Sanders against the leading Republicans in the state and he leads all of them as well- his advantages are 4 points over Walker at 40/36, 5 points over Bush at 42/37, 6 points over Rubio at 40/34, and 16 points over Trump at 48/32.
But Clinton is still the heavy favorite in Illinois, beating Sanders 60-23 percent among Democrats.
Clinton gets at least 54% within every group we track by ideology, gender, race, and age with her support peaking among African Americans with whom she gets 76% and Hispanics with whom she gets 72%.
Anyway,
carry on, Mark Kirk. You just keep
doing you.