There are big local elections happening across Illinois right now, not just in Chicago, and Cor Strategies has exclusive poll results for the mayoral races in Naperville, Lake Forest, Springfield, and Joliet.
Naperville
The Naperville mayoral race is going down to the wire with the two frontrunners almost exactly even, with Benny White barely in the lead over Scott Wehrli 44% to 43%. Undecideds break slightly more for White, 44% to 40%, which means if Election Day were today, White would win 49% to 47%.
This shows more strength than expected for Wehrli, which is a great sign for his campaign. Now it all comes down to turnout. With White’s solid and extremely active base, it should be assumed he will outperform his poll numbers, which means Wehrli needs to improve his poll numbers between now and April 4th to pull off the win.
Current Rating: Lean White
Lake Forest
Randy Tack has a commanding lead over Prue Beidler in the race for Lake Forest Mayor, 50% to 30%. However, Beidler is not out of the race yet, as undecideds are breaking towards her by a significant margin, 56% to 30%. If Election Day were today, Tack would win, 55% to 39%.
But Election Day is not today. Anytime you see a candidate winning undecideds despite being down in the head-to-head matchup, 99 times out of 100, that means that candidate has the momentum. There were 2 weeks left in the race at the conclusion of this poll, and if the current pace continues, Beidler will increase her support if Tack doesn’t up his game. This race is not over.
Current Rating: Lean Tack
Springfield
The challenger, Misty Buscher, has taken the lead in the race for Mayor of Springfield. In our latest poll, she leads the incumbent, Jim Langfelder, by a thin margin: 39% to 37%. However, with 25% of voters still undecided, this is still anyone’s game.
This poll was taken earlier than the other three, concluding on March 12th, which means from these numbers the candidates had just over 3 weeks to solidify their positions. It still appears Buscher has the momentum and is in excellent position to win this race—but people have counted Langfelder out before at their own peril.
Current Rating: Toss Up
Joliet
In the most surprising result from this round of polling, challenger Terry D’Arcy is dominating incumbent Bob O’DeKirk, leading 49% to 20%. Undecideds are evenly split, with 40% breaking towards D’Arcy and 39% breaking towards O’DeKirk. If Election Day were today, D’Arcy would win 61% to 29%.
This, combined with a D’Arcy campaign poll (done by PPP) released earlier this week showing D’Arcy in the lead by 18%, shows the incumbent in serious trouble. This is surprising, as nearly every politico we talked to on the ground claimed O’DeKirk was fine. That is clearly not the case—in fact, with limited time left to right the ship, he may need to start cleaning out his desk.
Current Rating: Likely D’Arcy
Get Caught Up to Speed
Collin Corbett and Cor’s political experts share their thoughts and analysis on each of these races. Watch what they have to say below or read more on these races to watch here.
