WASHINGTON - Thursday night, U.S. Senator Mark Kirk sent a fundraising email to supporters telling them he needs their help, and one poll shows he's not crying "Wolf!"
Friday night closes out an FEC reporting period that will indicate check writers' support for Kirk. "I need your help," Kirk says in the message, "I’m working hard in the Senate to protect the livelihood of millions of Illinois families."
How is Kirk helping Illinois families? By pushing a bill to rid the Great Lakes of sewage dumping and working with GOP leadership to reauthorize the Export Import Bank. Together, those efforts, Kirk says, will save 4.3 million jobs, especially in areas like Peoria and Moline.
But Kirk is going to need more than that plea to get financial support from Illinoisans. Public Policy Polling, a Democrat opinion group, says Kirk's approval numbers are sinking fast. And his disapproval numbers are spiking:
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%.
Duckworth leads Kirk 42/36 in a head to head. Although a plurality of voters in the state (42%) have no opinion about her, she's popular among the people who are familiar with her, with 34% rating her favorably to only 23% with an unfavorable view.
And right now, Kirk won't get much help from the top of the ticket in 2016, because Hillary Clinton would beat any GOP candidate if the election were today in Illinois, the poll says:
One thing very much to Democrats' advantage in the Senate race is that Hillary Clinton has a substantial lead over the Republican field in the state. 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. The GOPers who do the worst against Clinton are Donald Trump who's down 18 at 51/33, and Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee who each trail by identical 16 point margins at 51/35. In between are Ben Carson and Marco Rubio who each trail by 12 points at 49/37, Chris Christie who's down 14 at 49/35, and Carly Fiorina who trails by 15 at 49/34.
And who do Illinois Republicans like most to be their nominee in 2016? The governor just to the north.
Scott Walker leads the Republican field in the state with 23% to 18% for Donald Trump, 11% for Jeb Bush, 8% for Chris Christie, 7% for Ben Carson, 6% for Marco Rubio, 5% each for Mike Huckabee and Rand Paul, 4% for Ted Cruz, 3% for Carly Fiorina, 2% each for Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum, 1% each for Lindsey Graham, John Kasich, and Rick Perry, and the dreaded less than 1% rounding to 0 for Jim Gilmore and George Pataki.
Public Policy Polling surveyed 931 registered voters, including 409 Democratic primary voters and 369 Republican primary voters, on July 20th and 21st. More HERE.
