Chow holds steady lead as Matlow jumps to second place to tie with Saunders: poll

Support for Toronto mayoral candidate Josh Matlow is seeing a jump as he ties for second place with candidate Mark Saunders in a new poll.

The Liaison Strategies survey shows Matlow and Mark Saunders at 16 per cent support each among decided voters. They both received 14 per cent support among all Toronto voters.

Despite a small drop in support, frontrunner Olivia Chow, who has held a consistent lead in several recent polls, continues to lead the race with 26 per cent among all voters and 30 per cent support among those who have decided who they’re voting for.

"Olivia Chow has dipped four points while Josh Matlow has surged to a second place tie with Mark Saunders," said David Valentin, principal at Liaison Strategies, said in a June 15 release.

"But despite the dip, Chow still has a 14 point lead and remains the one to beat."

Ana Bailao earned third place among decided voters with 11 per cent support, while Mitzie Hunter and Anthony Furey are tied for fourth place with 8 per cent support each.

Brad Bradford placed fifth among decided voters with 5 per cent.

According to the findings of the poll, 13 per cent of all Toronto voters remain undecided. This is down by five points since the last Liaison Strategies poll.

"The undecided rate in this poll is 13% - and most of those points (plus Chow's) have gone to Matlow, Saunders and Bailao who are all up in this survey (+4, +1 and +1 respectively among decided voters)," Valentin said.

"It's always important to remember that trend lines are more significant than any individual snapshot. The trend this election has been for Chow to lead and for candidates to go into and out of second place. Voters are paying more attention now and over 130,000 ballots have already been cast. Some tightening in the final days is not surprising."

He noted that the last poll showed Chow has the most committed supporters with 56 per cent, while Matlow had the least at 15 per cent, adding it’s “important to keep that in mind when we consider who could challenge Chow in the dying days of this campaign."

The poll, which surveyed 1,156 Toronto voters, was conducted from June 12 to 13 and used interactive voice response technology. The margin of error for the poll stands at +/- 3.01%, 19 times out of 20.