Poll gives Rauner edge in state budget war

By Kevin Beese for Chronicle Media
Gov. Bruce Rauner

Gov. Bruce Rauner

A new poll claims that Gov. Bruce Rauner is winning the public relations battle over the state budget stalemate.

Basswood Research, which has worked for the Rauner campaign, said it surveyed 800 likely Illinois general election voters over a two-day period in mid-September and Rauner got huge numbers for trying to change the status quo in the state capital.

Of the survey respondents, 71 percent agreed with the statement “Bruce Rauner is trying to shake things up in Springfield, but the career politicians are standing in his way.”

Even going on the low side, with the poll’s margin of error at plus or minus 3.5 percent, those numbers would seem to indicate folks are viewing the governor as an agent of change on the state scene, a characteristic he had tried to portray since the Republic gubernatorial primary.

While impressive, those “shake-things-up” numbers don’t equate to a big thumb’s up on Rauner’s job performance.

Just 45 percent of participants approve of the job the governor is doing. Nearly as many (40 percent) disapprove of his actions.

He is far from Ronald Reagan presidency approval numbers, but Rauner, according to the poll, dwarfs the approval ratings right now for the General Assembly (11 percent) and House Speaker Michael Madigan (21 percent).

Steve Brown, spokesperson for Madigan, said he is not surprised by the pro-Rauner organization’s poll numbers.

“It is a Rauner-funded poll. What do you expect they would put out?” Brown asked. “I have not seen those kinds of numbers anywhere else. I just haven’t.”

Brown said the House speaker’s stand to institute a budget before addressing pro-business issues that Rauner has on the table is going over quite well with residents of the state.

“No one is calling and saying [hurt] the middle-class workers and have them sacrifice for the 1 percenters,” Brown said. “The Speaker has to stand up for middle-class families before anything else.

“He is not going to throw them under the bus. That is not going to happen. The governor is telling people he spent millions to get the position and that he is going to [hurt] them.”

Brown said that Madigan has no concerns over the Basswood numbers.

“We are not running a popularity contest,” Brown said.

Madigan’s spokesman said he believes that poll data from the independent Illinois Observer is more in tune with reality.

In back-to-back months this summer, the Illinois Observer commissioned Public Policy Polling to gauge Illinois residents’ support of Rauner.

Both polls showed only about 37 percent of respondents approving of the job Rauner is doing and 43 percent disapproving

Brown said Madigan will continue to try to protect the middle class, which is causing friction between he and Rauner.

“Anytime the Speaker talks to the administration, they want to talk about [hurting] the middle class,” Brown said. “That is not going to happen.”

Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly could not be reached for comment on the Basswood poll.

 

 

 

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