A new poll released by Bill Daley’s gubernatorial campaign shows that Attorney General Lisa Madigan has daddy issues.
Specifically, voters are turned off by the idea of Madigan serving as governor if her father, Rep. Michael Madigan, remains speaker of the House. That would put the same family in charge of the state’s executive and legislative branches. Apparently, that daddy-daughter combination is too much nepotism even for Illinois
According to the poll, conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, 38 percent of Illinoisans would vote for Madigan regardless of her father’s position. But 23 percent say they like Madigan but would have a hard time voting for her if her father continued as speaker.
From the pollster’s press release:
Lisa Madigan is personally popular (54% favorable / 26% unfavorable), and she leads Dan Rutherford among general-election voters in a head-to-head race for Governor (Madigan 50% / Rutherford 34%), whom we used as a placeholder candidate. Rutherford is currently only known to one-third (37%) of voters. Her lead also holds up after we give voters positive information about both candidates (Madigan 49% / Rutherford 38%).
However, Madigan faces a tough battle if she runs for Governor and her father remains Speaker of the House. In a vote between Lisa Madigan and Rutherford where her father does not resign his office, Lisa is in a dead heat with Rutherford (Madigan 41% / Rutherford 41%).
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Voters shift away from Madigan after they hear of a conflict of interest with Speaker. After voters hear the following about Mike and Lisa Madigan serving as Governor and Speaker, an easy message for Republicans to execute, the race moves to a tie (41% Madigan / 41% Rutherford). This includes a 27-point shift among Independents, who move from supporting Madigan by 4 points (Madigan 37% / Rutherford 33%) to opposing her by 23 points (Madigan 26% / Rutherford 49%).
Voters are heavily concerned about how this relationship will affect state government. It’s a “serious concern” to 53% of voters that “If Lisa Madigan is elected Governor, the Madigans will control two branches of state government. This will put too much power in one family's hands and break the system of checks and balances that is supposed to keep power in government separated.” A further 17% of voters think this is “somewhat of a concern”, making 70% total say it is a concern.
The poll only addresses how Lisa Madigan would fare against a Republican, but since it was released by Daley, it’s obviously aimed at turning off Democratic primary voters to her candidacy. If Michael Madigan does retire, he would obviously prefer to run in the primary, then hand off his seat to a Machine lackey. But that may be too late. Mike set his daughter up in politics, but the ties that put her into the family business may now prevent her from going all the way to the top.
