Marathon Pundit: Ill. gov race poll: Republican Jim Ryan leads Pat Quinn

For the first time in seven years--according to my recollection--an Illinois Republican leads a Democrat in a statewide poll.

This is huge.

Jim Ryan, the state's former attorney general, tops incumbent Pat Quinn, a Democrat, 46 to 39 percent according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted last week.

Quinn, who succeeded the disgraced Rod Blagojevich last year, is leading his challenger is Dan Hynes in all polls. But according to Rasmussen, Hynes leads Ryan 42 percent to 40 in that hypothetical match up. Quinn has bagged almost all of the union endorsements that matter, and that should enough for him to prevail over Hynes in February's primary. Rasmussen expects an uptick in support for the Democrat once the party settles on its nominee.

On the Republican end, none of the other gubernatorial hopefuls lead either Hynes or Quinn, according to the same poll.

Great news for Jim Ryan.

Click here to visit the official Jim Ryan site. You'll find Ryan's Facebook group here, and you can follow his tweets here.

Related post:

Marathon Pundit endorses Jim Ryan for Illinois governor

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