Olivia Chow remains front-runner in Toronto mayoral race: poll

Olivia Chow is pictured at a restaurant in Toronto's Chinatown as she announces her candidacy for the Toronto mayoral election, on Monday, April 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Olivia Chow remains the front-runner in the race for Toronto mayor, but another candidate is gaining support, according to a new poll.

A Mainstreet Research survey released on Friday finds that Chow is still the top choice among decided voters to take on the city’s top job, with 30 per cent support.

She is followed by Ana Bailao with 21 per cent support, up six percentage points from last week’s poll.

Matlow is ranked third with 14 per cent – a four-point increase in support since the previous survey. Rounding the top five are Mark Saunders and Mitzie Hunter.

Saunders saw his support drop from 12 per cent to 10 per cent, while Hunter’s number held steady.

They are followed by Anthony Furey (seven per cent), Brad Bradford (four per cent), and Chloe Brown (two per cent).

According to the survey, 26 per cent of those polled are still undecided about who they want to be the next mayor.

The latest numbers come days after the first televised mayoral debate hosted by the Daily Bread Food Bank.

When asked how confident they are that their choice of mayor will win, most respondants said they are strongly to somewhat confident.

However, they are split on their level of confidence that the next mayor of Toronto, regardless of who it will be, will move Toronto in the right direction.

Candidates still have over a month to convince residents to vote for them as their next mayor.

June 26 is election day.

 

Methodology

The numbers are based on a survey conducted from May 16 to May 17 among 1,125 adults in Toronto. It was done using automated telephone interviews. Respondents were interviewed on landlines and cellular phones.

The margin of error for the poll is +/- 2.9% at the 95% confidence level.