More Tribune poll numbers.
Seven out of 10 Chicago voters don’t believe Mayor Richard Daley’s assertions that he was unaware of wrongdoing in city contracting and hiring, but more than half of voters still approve of the job he is doing, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.
A majority of the survey’s participants have concluded that Daley is responsible for personnel and contract decisions and aren’t satisfied with his past efforts to eliminate fraud and corruption in those areas. Still, the poll found that when it comes time to vote, most voters will view the scandals that have rocked City Hall as less important than what Daley has done to improve the city.
With one year before the next city mayoral balloting, the poll found that if Daley ran for re-election today against U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., the race would be up for grabs. In a three-way contest that also included U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, the poll showed Daley could be forced into a runoff. […]
Only 18 percent of voters in the poll said they believe Daley had no knowledge of how city contracts and jobs were awarded.
Sixty percent said they think the mayor is personally responsible for overseeing the selection of city contractors, and only about one in four said they were satisfied with Daley’s previous efforts to prevent corruption in contracting and city hiring. Nearly four out of five said they believe political loyalty should not determine who gets a city job, the poll found.
But half of the voters said they are satisfied with the mayor’s efforts since the City Hall scandals broke to eliminate favoritism, corruption and fraud in contracting and hiring. […]
Nearly 60 percent of respondents said improvements were more important to them than wrongdoing at City Hall when deciding whether to vote for Daley. Only 27 percent said they rated the scandals more important.