Mayoral Polling Gets An Early Jump On Campaign

By aaroncynic in News on Sep 9, 2010 8:45PM

With speculation swirling around who will be Chicago’s next mayor and the public’s eye already fixed on the possibility of a Rahm Emmanual run, pollsters are already asking which horse people plant to bet on. We Ask America found 40+ candidates mentioned in reports on potential Daley replacements, narrowed that number to ten and asked more than 2,300 people who their top choice was. [Ed's note: I was one of the "lucky" recipients of the call and it had a D.C. area code. Boring. - M.G.]

Rahmbo topped the list at nearly 30%, followed by Tom Dart and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. The poll was less than scientific, with WAA using an automated service (which two Chicagoist writers received phone calls from) and no margin of error. COO Gregg Durham told the Atlantic Monthly “It was a first-shot thing and mostly for fun… We did it as a flier to see what the results would be.” Durham went on to say via press release “Name recognition played a big role in this survey and Rahm Emanuel has it for sure.” Noticeably absent: Miguel del Valle, who has declared his candidacy, and Ald. Scott Waguespack, who many speculate might follow suit soon.