Jerry Marchese feels Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) has captured the pulse of the people in her GOP primary run against Gov. Bruce Rauner, and he thinks the recent results of a Wayne Township Republican Organization (WTRO) straw poll vote reflect that.
“She’s what the state needs right now, and the more she gets out and interacts with voters the more of them come to see that,” Marchese, chairman of the WTRO, told the North Cook News. “Things are definitely looking up for her.”
As evidence of that, Marchese points to a recent WTRO straw poll vote where Ives blew away Rauner, 88 percent to 12 percent. On the question of “who has the best chance of beating the Democratic candidate,” the results were almost just as lopsided, with Ives finishing on top by a better than 3-1 margin (76 percent to 24 percent).
The WTRO straw vote takes on added significance with some given how accurate it was in predicting the 2016 presidential race won by Donald Trump.
“She doesn’t have the money of Rauner or some of the Democrats on the ballot but she has the support of the people,” Marchese said. “She’s doing this the old-fashion way, which by connecting with the people. Voters don’t have to see or hear ads on TV all the time to know they want change.”
In the end, Marchese says he sees Ives as representing everything Rauner has proven himself not to be.
“In Rauner, voters see someone who has given up on Republican values,” Marchese said. “He signed higher income taxes into law and the bill for state-funded abortions. I don’t know what Republicans will still rally around him, and even for those who do I don’t think it would be enough for him to beat the Democrat. Jeanne Ives is the only one that can do that and Rauner brought this on himself with all his broken promises.”
Marchese said another straw poll vote is scheduled for March 8, less than two weeks before the March 20 primary.
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