Democrats Lead Big in Secretary of State, Treasurer Races
New polling conducted for The Illinoize shows Democrat Alexi Giannoulias with an 18-point lead over Republican Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) in the open race for Secretary of State.
In two races Republicans felt they had a chance to defeat Democratic opponents, hopes of the first GOP statewide win since 2014 may be slipping away.
Many Republicans believed Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) could defeat former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in the race for the open Secretary of State’s office being vacated by Jesse White. Brady is a prolific retail politician and Giannoulias has baggage surrounding his family’s failed bank.
But, Giannoulias’ fundraising advantage and Brady’s cash struggles in the current political environment appear to be hurting the Republican’s struggles.
In the poll conducted by The Illinoize, Giannoulias leads Brady 55%-37% with 8% of voters undecided.
The statewide poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday by McHenry County-based firm Victory Geek, sampling 512 voters using both automated and live phone calls. The margin of error is ±4.3%.
Giannoulias leads Brady 70-23% in Cook County and 66%-27% in the suburbs. Brady leads Giannoulias 48%-42% downstate. Giannoulias leads by 12% among men and by 24% among women.
Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) joined the failed Griffin/Irvin slate in the primary, but faced no opposition in the primary. A longtime legislator and decent fundraiser, Republicans hoped Demmer could hold his own against incumbent Treasurer Mike Frerichs.
In our poll, Frerichs leads Demmer by 21 percentage points, 54%-33%. 13% of respondents were undecided.
Frerichs leads Demmer 72%-18% in Cook County and 62%-26% in the suburbs. Demmer holds a 43%-42% lead downstate.
A Demmer spokesman attempted to push back on the results and discredit the poll, calling it “highly questionable” and “cheap clickbait.” We invited the Demmer campaign to provide an internal poll and they did not respond.
Frerichs, meanwhile, told The Illinoize Monday night he’s “not focused on polls,” but on doing his job.
The full poll can be seen here.