Thread: Sweet: Donald Trump tops new Illinois poll

Sweet: Donald Trump tops new Illinois poll

By Lynn Sweet Posted: 12/20/2015, 09:17pm

WASHINGTON — It’s Donald Trump in Illinois.

Trump, at 30 percent, is the top GOP presidential candidate in Illinois, according to a new poll, with double the points of Sens. Ted Cruz at 15 percent and Marco Rubio at 13 percent.

The billionaire real estate tycoon and reality show star, the national front-runner, polls first in Cook County, the collar counties of Lake, DuPage, Will, Kane and McHenry and in downstate Illinois, according to results shared with the Chicago Sun-Times.

GOP pollster Joe Caccitolo, who runs Compass Consulting, conducted the automated telephone survey of 2,104 likely Republican voters last Wednesday, the day after the fifth Republican debate in Las Vegas. More on the methodology below.

After Trump and the senators from Texas and Florida, in Illinois it’s former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 7 percent; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 6 percent; Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 3 percent; former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul at 2 percent.

Asked, “if the primary election for president was held today, for whom would you vote,” 11 percent were undecided.

And while the entire field consists of other contenders not included in the poll — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham; former New York Gov. George Pataki; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum — only 2 percent said their choice was for another candidate.

Caccitolo’s polling snapshot comes three months before Illinois’ March 15 primary and tracks the popularity of Trump in national polls as the crowded GOP field heads toward the first presidential vote in Iowa on Feb. 1.

Caccitolo does survey work for the Illinois state House Republican political organization and is a psychologist on the adjunct faculty at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Trump came in at 33 percent in the collar counties; 32 percent in Cook County; and 29 percent downstate. In an election in which Trump is casting himself as an outsider running against the establishment, Cruz makes his best showing, at 18 percent, with downstate voters.

That suggests, Caccitolo said, “The voters downstate are more traditionally conservative” and Cruz is seen as the “truest conservative.”

Worth noting: Bush and Kasich have built Illinois presidential primary organizations with support from some of the biggest Republican establishment names in the state.

Unlike Trump, Bush and Kasich have recognized Illinois political figures running on their delegate slates – also to be elected in the March primary.

Trump has been to Illinois twice to boost his candidacy. Last November, more than 10,000 people packed the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield to see him. In June, Trump keynoted a City Club of Chicago lunch.

In Illinois, a voter does not have to declare or register a party affiliation in advance, so a major predictive factor of who will vote in the future is the past track record.

Calls went to households screened to include the hard-core Illinois Republicans who have pulled a GOP primary ballot over the past 10 years and those who participated in previous GOP primaries most of the time.

Only landlines were called. The margin of error in the poll was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Because most younger people use only cellphones, the survey was as big as it was in order to find younger voters. Still, half the respondents were 62 years old and over.

In the automated survey, in which respondents answer a recorded question by pressing a number on the key pad, Trump’s name was first.

The biggest distinctions in the poll came in the 26-to-35 age group, in which Rubio came in first at 19 percent to Trump’s 16 percent and 12 percent each for Christie and Cruz. That could indicate, Caccitolo said, that Rubio has potential “with the young blood in the party.”

http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics...-illinois-poll

Thank you Chicago! Thank you Illinois! Wow. 30% in Illinois, 32% in Chicago. Outstanding.

Iowa, please please get out the Trump vote to the Caucuses so he can win in Iowa and ... Run the Table. We do not want a "brokered" convention. We don't want multiple ballots. We don't want any of this back door, behind the scenes cagey schemes or twisted rule crap tarnishing this primary election. Americans need to know we believe, we're united, we're ready to roll and start fixing our country not just for Republicans but for all Americans, Democrats, Independents, Greens, Constitution, Libertarian, all citizens, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and any combination thereof of all ages, all incomes, all education levels, all workers.

Donald Trump deserves this victory and we deserve to have him lead our country. He is the only person with any stake in this race. He's using his own money, he's put his business and earnings at risk standing up for us on immigration and terrorism. He's not looking for a better job, a higher salary, or a nicer home. This isn't a personal aspiration for him, it's a necessity for him because he like us can't stand the stupidity that has almost destroyed our country.

Trump is a one man machine who packs heat, throws an 89 mph fast ball and does math in his head.

Iowa, what more could you possibly want in your Field of Dreams?

STAY TRUE!! STAY TRUMP!!

WTG TRUMP