The latest Southern Illinois Poll indicates Republican voters in the region favor former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.The survey conducted last week of 400 registered voters in the lower 18-counties shows Santorum with 29% support to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romeny's 21%. The survey also shows former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich with 11% and Texas Congressman Ron Paul with 6%.
Paul Simon Public Policy Institute Director David Yepsen says the results are consistent with the volatile Republican primary in the rest of the country. Yepsen says another way to look at the results is that 46% of voters wanted someone other than Romeny and another 30% remain undecided. Of the voters surveyed 32% said they would cast a GOP ballot, 33% would cast a Democratic ballot, and 35% were undecided or unsure if they would vote.
The Institute's Charles Leonard says people should not over interpret the survey results because it is a small survey sample. The poll also indicates 75% of voters in southern Illinois believe the country is headed in the wrong direction while 83% of those polled believe the state of Illinois is going down the wrong track.
