Preckwinkle poll gives her strong job approval, favorability ratings: Quinn gets low scores

WASHINGTON–Cook County voters hold favorable opinions of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and give her high marks for how she handles her job, according to a poll taken by her political operation.

The poll, by Tulchin Research, was taken Aug. 1-6 of 600 likely voters–called on land lines and cell phones. The survey has a 4 percent margin of error. I did not see the entire poll; portions were shared with me on Thursday

Voters were asked about county issues and how Preckwinkle was doing–comparing her with President Barack Obama, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Quinn.

The survey shows that Preckwinkle, Emanuel and Madigan are even in their favorability ratings. Obama has the best, Quinn the worse, ratings for job approval and favorability.

The poll comes out as Democrats are aware that Quinn’s ratings are low and at present is vulnerable as he heads towards a 2014 re-election campaign. Preckwinkle’s name has been mentioned as a potential 2014 Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidate and this survey bolsters her viability.

The survey, paid for by the Preckwinkle for President Committee, was taken because “it is important for us to discern whether Toni’s administration is effectively communicating her agenda to voters,” Ken Snyder, who is Preckwinkle’s political consultant, told me.

Obama, no surprise, had 100 percent name ID in the poll, compared to 98 percent for Quinn and Emanuel, 93 percent for Madigan and 83 percent for Preckwinkle–which means she has work to do to get known better within Cook County.

Voters also approved of Preckwinkle’s handling of a controversy involving the management of the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. Some 81 percent have heard at least “a little” about “the mismanagement crisis at Cook County’s morgue that resulted in the county’s previous medical examiner being replaced.”

Of that group, 39 percent said the strongly approved Preckwinkle’s handling of the crisis, 34 percent somewhat approved, 4 percent somewhat disapproved, 8 percent strongly disapproved and 16 per cent had no response to the question.

Key findings

% FAVORABLE OPINION

67 Obama

54 Emanuel

53 Preckwinkle

53 Madigan

41 Quinn

% NEUTRAL

21 Madigan

21 Emanuel

20 Preckwinkle

20 Quinn