Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth’s campaign released a poll today that showed her with a massive lead over her Democratic primary opponent, former Illinois Deputy Treasurer Raja Krishnamoorthi.

Duckworth led Krishnamoorthi, 59 percent to 17 percent, less than two months before the March 20 primary, according to an internal survey memo released by her campaign.

The winner of the Democratic nod will face Rep. Joe Walsh (R) this fall. The two Democrats have been running aggressive, well-funded campaigns for the northwest Chicago-area seat, but Krishnamoorthi continues to struggle to overcome Duckworth’s strong name recognition in the region.

The survey showed Duckworth boasts an 83 percent name identification in the district, including 67 percent of respondents who said they view the ex-Department of Veterans Affairs assistant secretary favorably. She unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, but narrowly lost to now-Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.).

“This glowing assessment is enviable for any candidate but for one in the expensive Chicago media market, it is literally worth millions,” Duckworth pollster Jill Normington wrote in the polling memo.
Normington polled 400 likely primary voters in the redrawn 8th district Jan. 10-12. The margin of error was 4.9 points.