A new survey finds that a former lawmaker who was tossed out of office weeks ago has a big lead in the general election race that could return him to the General Assembly.
The survey... reported by Rich Miller's Capitol Fax blog... finds Democrat Derrick Smith with a lead of 48% to just 9% for third-party challenger Lance Tyson. Tyson was put up by leading Democrats to give voters an alternative to Smith, who is facing federal bribery charges. Those charges led the Illinois House to vote to expel him from his seat, but do not prevent him from running in the November election.
The pollsters think that voters in Smith's Chicago district are not focused on the race and are unaware of the scandal linked to Smith.
