In a race tinged with small but significant changes almost daily, a recent poll by Basswood Research shows U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk currently leading Rep. Tammy Duckworth by two points in the race for U.S. Senate.
Marked by language referencing “neck and neck” statistics, and one contender “edging” ahead of the other, polling reports reveal a tight race subject to nuanced change as the countdown toward the 2016 election continues.
"A new poll conducted by Basswood Research … shows Republican Senator Mark Kirk with 41.9 percent of the vote and Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth with 40.4, the margin of error plus or minus 3.5 percentage points," WBBM-AM said.
NBC Chicago picked up on a clear flip-flop from earlier days, reporting that while April indicated that Duckworth was leading, Kirk is now ahead by 1.5 percent. Politico Pro, meanwhile, revealed that "An internal poll... found GOP Sen. Mark Kirk at 42 percent and Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth at 40 percent."
Regardless of daily fluctuations, one thing was clear to Capitol Fax: "Kirk is actually doing much better vis-a-vis Trump than some of his GOP colleagues."
Politico Playbook, CLTV and Crain’s On Politics all concurred with the data, corroborating that Kirk currently enjoys a definitive lead.
Nick Klitzing, who serves as executive director for the Illinois Republican Party, summed up the recent numbers with a statement:
"Following a few horrible weeks for the Duckworth campaign, including having Illinois taxpayers pick up the tab for her legal troubles, it comes as no surprise that Illinois voters prefer Senator Kirk's thoughtful, effective and independent leadership," he said.
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