January 24, 2010

State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias entered the final days of the campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination with a significant advantage over rivals Cheryle Jackson and David Hoffman, but undecided voters could still swing the election, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.

Republican Senate contender Mark Kirk held onto a wide lead over little-known challengers, but a third of GOP primary voters were still undecided with the Feb. 2 primary looming.

The statewide poll conducted Jan. 16 to 20 shows candidates in both parties have yet to sway large numbers of voters in a nationally watched race for the seat formerly held by President Barack Obama.

Giannoulias was backed by 34 percent of Democrats, while 19 percent supported Jackson, the former Chicago Urban League president, and 16 percent supported Hoffman, the former Chicago inspector general. The poll of 601 likely Democratic voters has an error margin of 4 percentage points.

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Graphic: Statewide poll