Election 2010: Illinois Senate

Illinois Senate: Kirk (R) Still Just Ahead of Giannoulias (D)

With less than a week to go before Election Day, Republican Congressman Mark Kirk and Democratic State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias remain in a close battle for Illinois’ open U.S. Senate seat.

The latest statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters in Illinois shows Kirk picking up 46% of the vote, while Giannoulias draws support from 42%. Five percent (5%) like Green Party candidate LeAlan Jones, and another five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate. Two percent (2%) are undecided at this time. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The race is still a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.

The race is little changed from last week, when Kirk led 44% to 40%. Highlighting the closeness of the contest is the fact that Kirk and Giannoulias have now run within four points or less of each other in 11 surveys since early June. Prior to the latest results, Jones' support held steady at four percent (4%) in four surveys since September.

But Democrats are counting on visits to Illinois this week by Bill Clinton and President Obama to shift voters in the Democratic-leaning state into Giannoulias' column.

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The survey of 750 Likely Voters in Illinois was conducted on October 26, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/-4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Additional data from this survey will be released at rasmussenreports.com/Illinois.

Republican Bill Brady holds an eight-point lead over Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn in the four-way race for governor of Illinois.

Which party would a plurality of Illinois voters like to see in charge of the Senate? Is personal character more important than a candidate's positions to most voters in the state? Become a Platinum Member to find out.

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