Candidates Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg hold the lead in Illinois presidential primary polls and approval ratings for Gov. J.B. Pritzker are on the rise according to the Simon Poll. 

The Simon Poll is an annual political poll conducted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at SIU. The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters using random telephone digit dialing from Feb. 10 – Feb. 17 and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

Presidential Primary Poll Results

Overall in Illinois Sanders is in the lead with 22% of the vote, Bloomberg holds 17%, Joe Biden has 14%, Pete Buttigieg 13%, Amy Klobuchar 8% and Elizabeth Warren 6%. 

“This pro-Bernie tilt is similar to what has been happening in the early states, and what the national polls show, and it is likely to continue until Super Tuesday and then on to Illinois and other big states on March 17th,” said John S. Jackson, one of the co-directors of the poll.

Pritzker Poll Results

Approval of Pritzker statewide has reached 51%, an increase of 11 percentage points from his 2019 approval ratings. He has a 14 percentage point advantage over former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s approval rating of 37% in 2015.

While Pritzker’s approval ratings have improved nationwide, he holds a 52% disapproval rate downstate and the poll showed a large partisan divide.

“Among Democrats, the governor enjoys a 77 percent approval to 14 percent disapproval rating,” the poll said. “Seventy-three percent of Republicans disapprove and 20 percent approve of Pritzker’s job performance. Independents are in the middle, with 44 percent approval to 43 percent disapproval.”

President Donald Trump’s Approval Ratings

Thirty-nine percent of Illinois voters approved of the job President Donald J. Trump is doing, while 58% disapproved. This is a net negative job approval rate of 19 percentage points, the poll said. 

“Regionally, President Trump is markedly more popular downstate than he is in Chicago and the suburbs,” the poll said. “In Chicago 73 percent disapprove while only 22 percent approve; in the suburbs 62 percent disapprove and 36 percent approve; downstate 56 percent approve and 41 percent disapprove.”

The Illinois Primary is on Tuesday, March 17.

News Editor Kallie Cox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @KallieECox.

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