Incumbent Gov. Rod Blagojevich is maintaining his advantage over Republican Judy Barr Topinka in Illinois’ gubernatorial race. The latest Rasmussen Reports election survey shows Blagojevich ahead 44% to 36% (see crosstabs). A month ago, he was ahead by 12 points--his high point in the race thus far. Topinka’s numbers remain unchanged since the previous poll.

Nine percent (9%) of voters say they’re supporting Green Party candidate Rich Whitney.

Blagojevich maintains his lead despite the fact that 63% disapprove of his job performance. The survey was conducted after reports surfaced that one of the governor’s top advisors and fundraisers is facing federal indictment on charges that he tried to solicit a $1.5 million contribution from a company seeking state business.

Blagojevich and Topinka are still running neck-and-neck in the unfavorable rating race. Overall, 60% have an unfavorable view of each candidate--27% of voters have a “very unfavorable” opinion of Blagojevich and 28% say the same of Topinka.

A slim majority of voters (50%) say they’re planning to support Blagojevich because he’s their top choice; 44% say they’re supporting him to vote against Topinka. Slightly over one-third (35%) of Topinka voters are voting for her because they prefer her and 59% are doing so to vote against the governor.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Illinois voters report following the news about Congressman Mark Foley closely—40% say they’re following the story “very closely.”

A plurality of voters (44%) rates the Republicans’ handling of the Foley situation as “poor.” Opinions on this question naturally are divided along party lines; a majority of Democrats (64%) rates the GOP response as “poor” and a plurality of Republicans (35%) says it has been “good.”

Interestingly, when asked how Democratic leaders would have handled the situation had Foley been a Democrat, 50% of voters—including 43% of Republicans and 47% of Democrats—say they would have handled it “about the same.”

Forty-three percent (43%) of voters believe it is common for members of Congress to have inappropriate relationships with staff members, while 36% believe it is not and 22% aren’t sure. And despite making headlines for the past few weeks, 57% say the Foley situation is not an important factor in determining how they’ll vote—23% say it’s “not important at all.”

Crosstabs available for Premium Members only.