Poll results suggest governor's race has tightened

The race for governor is now a sprint to the wire on Election Day, as new polls now say incumbent Pat Quinn and republican Bruce Rauner are in a virtual tie.

Two different surveys of likely Illinois voters conducted since last weekend found no clear frontrunner in the race for governor.

The Rasmussen poll had Rauner leading Quinn by one percent with two percent preferring an unspecified different candidate and four percent undecided among likely voters.

A Chicago Tribune poll had Rauner up by two points with Libertarian Chad Grimm at four percent with seven percent of likely voters undecided.

"Are you calling registered voters, or are you calling likely voters?" said polling expert Bruce Tincknell.

Tincknell says polls using live telephone interviewers, as Rasmussen and Tribune conducted, are more reliable than automated surveys.

"When you're calling on the phone you have a live interviewer, okay, and that person can have a live interchange with the respondent on the other line and if there's any questions that need to be clarified, they can do it," Tincknell said.

A Chicago Tribune poll of registered voters in September had Rauner trailing Quinn by 11 points. The most recent survey suggested the republican, whose wife is featured in a new TV ad, was gaining traction with suburban women.

A Quinn campaign spokeswoman wrote this afternoon:

"We've always known this race would be close. We're up against a billionaire republican who thinks he can buy the governor's office and intimidate anyone in his way. It won't work."

The Illinois Republican Party issued a statement saying the latest polls are evidence of Rauner's momentum in the race for governor. But again, because both polls are within the margin of error, they suggest the race is statistically tied.