Illinois Republicans Get Their Say Today

Illinois will be the 28th state to join the Republican presidential nominating fray as they hold their primary today -- and it's a pretty rich prize, with 69 delegates at stake (54 delegates will be chosen today, and the rest will be chosen at the state convention).

Last week's polls showed a close race between Wall Street Willie (aka Willard Mitt Romney) and Mr. Frothy (aka Rick Santorum), but two new polls just released show Romney has extended his lead to double-digits. I think Romney is probably the favorite now, but I'm not sure it is that much. Santorum has been consistently outperforming his poll numbers.

As it has been in many other states, it seems to be boiling down to a urban/suburban versus rural thing. Romney is favored in the urban areas and the suburbs, while Santorum is favored in the rural areas. Will the Chicago area rule the day, or will downstate voters call the shots? We'll know by late tonight. Meanwhile, here are the latest poll numbers:

PUBLIC POLICY POLLING (Illinois)
Mitt Romney...............45%
Rick Santorum...............30%
Newt Gingrich...............12%
Ron Paul...............10%

AMERICAN RESEARCH GROUP POLL (Illinois)
Mitt Romney...............44%
Rick Santorum...............30%
Newt Gingrich...............13%
Ron Paul...............8%