For the second month in a row, we started by asking if Serafin Power Pollers had made up their minds on who they would be supporting for mayor on February 28. While last month only half of respondents said they had decided, this month 67% have chosen a candidate. The respondents saying they didn’t know who they’d be voting for went down from 46% in January to 27% this month. Roughly the same amount of people responded that they might not be voting this month (6%) as last month (4%).

Ald. Matt Martin (47^th Ward) has introduced a resolution to the City Council calling for the City to adopt ranked choice voting, in which voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than choosing a single candidate. Advocates of the policy say it increases democracy by allowing voters to choose the candidates they prefer rather than the candidates they think can win. We asked Serafin Power Pollers if they think we should adopt ranked choice voting, as New York, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Evanston have and it was a dead heat between respondents who said no (44.5%) and those that said yes (43.5%). A further 12% were unsure.

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At the end of January, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a 15-year franchise agreement with ComEd. But the deal needs City Council approval and some aldermen want to put the brakes on swift approval of the deal, while the administration wants the deal okayed quickly. We asked Power Pollers if they thought the deal should be voted on before or after the new City Council is sworn in this May (after the February election and a potential April run-off). More than 60% of respondents say the deal should be voted on after the new council is sworn in, with only 25% saying the deal should get a vote before. A further 15% were unsure.

The U.S. has now shot down four unidentified objects since the beginning of the month, including the suspected Chinese spy balloon, and says it has recovered “significant debris” from the first one that was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean. We asked Serafin Power Pollers to evaluate the U.S.’s response to that first balloon, by finishing the sentence, “The suspected Chinese spy balloon was…” More than 45% said the balloon was shot down too late, while 42% it was shot down at the right time. Only 4% said it didn’t need to get shot down and 9% were unsure.

If all you’d heard was that the Super Bowl ended on a last-minute field goal, you’d probably expect it be a supremely exciting finish. But if it was preceded by three minutes of kneeling, you’d be wrong. We asked Serafin Power Pollers what the best thing about this year’s Super Bowl was and the leading vote-getter (39%) was the Chiefs winning, followed by the commercials at 26%, the halftime show at 20% and the Eagles losing at only 3%. A further 12% said they skipped the game this year.

A total of 651 Serafin Power Poll members were surveyed and the participation rate was 15.8%. The Serafin Power Poll is not a scientific poll, but rather a fascinating and non-partisan glimpse into the attitudes and opinions of the decision-makers and thought leaders in the Chicago region. 

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