Sen. Burris Holds Small, Early Lead for 2010 Reelect

Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) and two potential Democratic primary challengers all lead potential Republican challengers in the state’s impending 2010 Senate race, a new poll found.

A poll conducted by Research2000 for the liberal blog Daily Kos showed Burris, the newly-appointed incumbent, leading Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) 37-30, well below the 50 percent threshold considered healthy for incumbents, but with a lead outside the poll’s margin of error. Burris leads the less well-known Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) 38-25.

Burris also has an early-stage advantage over potential Democratic primary challengers. In a tested Democratic primary, Burris received 26 percent, leading Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) at 12 percent, and followed by state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias at 11 percent. 51 percent of Illinois Democrats said they were undecided.

On the Republican side, Kirk led Roskam 27-17 in a Republican primary matchup, with 56 percent undecided.

Schakowsky and Giannoulias led both Kirk and Roskam by margins mirroring Burriss’s, according to the poll.

The survey, conducted January 26-28, has a four percent margin of error for everything except the primary matchups, which have a five percent margin of error.