Donald Trump

Poll: Scott Walker Leads GOP Field in Illinois, Followed by Donald Trump

According to Public Policy Polling, Walker leads Republic votes in Illinois with 23 percent, followed by Donald Trump with 18 percent

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker leads the pack of GOP presidential hopefuls in Illinois, according to early polls released Wednesday.

Public Policy Polling reports that Walker has 23 percent of the vote for Illinois Republicans, followed by Donald Trump (18 percent), Jeb Bush (11 percent) and Chris Christie (8 percent).

Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich, Rick Perry, Jim Gilmore and George Pataki all took less than 8 percent of the vote, according to the poll.

The poll results were released two days after Gov. Walker visited Illinois for the first time since announcing his candidacy earlier this month.

On Monday, Walker visited the Union League Club and the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago (where he enjoyed a cheeseburger and a beer). He also hit Bloomington for a "meet and greet" event with GOP congressional candidate Darin LaHood.

While in Chicago, the Wisconsin governor had some nice words for fellow Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, tweeting, "From what I can see @BruceRauner is trying to shake up a system and bring real change." 

Trump and Walker, the two front runners in Illinois, have sparred over their differences as they both climb the polls. On Monday, Trump tweeted, "When people find out how bad a job Scott Walker has done in WI, they won't be voting for him. Massive deficit, bad jobs forecast, a mess." 

Walker abstained from tweeting back at Trump, but he addressed the harsh tweet on Monday at the Billy Goat Tavern.

"He's using the talking points of the Democrats last year," Walker told the Chicago Tribune. "The public in my state re-elected me for the third time in four years because they realized those talking points were not the fact. ... I don't know where he's getting his facts from, other than the talking points of state Democrats." 

Following his brief visit to Illinois, Walker is spending a few days in Pennsylvania, and he will head back to Iowa on Friday.

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