“Undecided” polling way ahead of all mayoral candidates; race gripped by meh fever
A pair of polls have come out that show the mayoral race tightening up—but only if one includes actual candidates. Rob Ford and George Smitherman are essentially be tied for second, but dark horse candidate “Undecided” is leading by a landslide, according to a Nanos poll (showing 32 per cent of likely voters undecided) and a survey commissioned by the Star (showing 44 per cent undecided).
The Globe and Mail reports:
A new Globe and Mail/CTV/CP24/Nanos poll puts Mr. Ford in first place, edging out Mr. Smitherman, who left his provincial post as deputy premier and energy infrastructure minister to run. The lead, however, is quite slim – 17.8 per cent of the 1,000 Torontonians polled said they would vote for Mr. Ford if the election were held immediately, compared with 15.9 per cent for Mr. Smitherman – and well within the margin of error of 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
As the Globe‘s Marcus Gee puts it, “George Smitherman gave up the No. 2 spot in the government of Canada’s most populous province to run for mayor. Now he finds himself running second to this guy.”
The only person who is having a worse day than George Smitherman is Rocco Rossi, who started strong but is now running fourth or fifth depending the poll. On the other hand, the Star gave a Monday morning smile to John Tory, finding that he’d beat both the runners-up and leave Undecided well behind him.
• Mayoral race: Rob Ford catches up to George Smitherman [Toronto Star]
• Nanos Poll [Nanos Research—PDF]
• Gee: One-note Ford is resonating with voters [Globe and Mail]
• Poll puts Ford ahead of Smitherman [Globe and Mail]
• ‘Fiscally responsible’ Ford edges over competition in mayoral race [CP24]
Images: garbage strike, Martin Reis from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool; Pantalone, Mammoliti, Ford, toronto.ca; Rossi, Rocco Rossi; Smitherman, OldTownGuy; Thomson, Joey Schwartz.
I can’t believe Toronto Life is allowed to publish such biased articles praising Smitherman. For what: allowing his buddies to take tax payers money to pay for their elaborate lifestyle. Rob Ford is transparent and accountable. He is not for the little guy, he is for every tax payer that wants their money spent wisely. And yes I live downtown and I am liberal and I can support him. He is more liberal than people make him out to be. I can’t wait until I can stop paying extra money to own a car in Toronto. What a joke that tax is.
Well put Slitherman is just like the rest of the slimeball politicians! If you think Miller was bad , wait till furious George gets in their and starts spending. I can’t believe people would even consider voting Slitherman after the E Health scandal he hasn’t owned up to yet! Rob Ford is going to cut taxes and bring accountability to city hall, isn’t that enough to give him the mayor’s chair? One more thing I’m not sure I want a former drug addict as my Mayor!Wake up Toronto!
I would like to know which candidate will assure that every Tuesday when I come home, my garbage has been picked up. I am tired of calling 311 because a green bin (which is the city issued bin, with what the city has asked us to put in it) is sitting full, or a blue bin that is supposedly too full. I just want my trash picked up and not have to deal with it.
If there are any citizens left out there that are “undecided” about candidate, Phil Taylor, please allow me to help you gain some perspective. I am Phil’s wife in the United States. We have been married for 16 years and I have been raising our son by myself for fifteen and a half years, as Phil has chosen to desert his family. Until a few weeks ago, when I begged him for a divorce and he refused to give it to me, we had not had any contact of any kind for 12 years. This is not a “transparent” nor and honest man with even an ounce of “integrity” as he claims. I hope this helps the citizens in their decision when it comes time to approach the polls!
Hi Am voting for George Smitherman for mayor of Toronto!!