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Chow and Saunders leading potential
mayor race
2 in 3 voters (67%) have a preferred candidate
before registration opens
Toronto,
March 24th – In a random sampling of public opinion taken by
The Forum Poll™ among 1009 Toronto residents,
among decided and leaning voters former city councillor Olivia Chow (24%) and
former police chief Mark Saunders (22%) are the leading potential candidates
for mayor of Toronto. Overall, 33% of respondents don’t know who they would
vote for if the election were held tomorrow. Candidate registration opens on
April 3 for the mayoral election to be held on June 26.
Among
decided and leaning voters, Chow and Saunders received more support than other
potential candidates including current councillor Josh Matlow (18%), MPP Mitzie
Hunter (12%), former councillor Ana Bailao (11%), former mayoral candidate Gil
Penalosa (8%), and current councillor Brad Bradford (5%). Among decided and
leaning voters who voted for John Tory in the last mayoral election, Saunders
(31%) is the top choice.
“Name
recognition is a likely factor in the levels of support for Chow and Saunders,”
said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “Other potential
candidates will need to rely on campaigning to gain support.”
The
cost of living & inflation (23%), housing affordability (22%), and city
infrastructure, services & taxes (16%) are the top three most important
issues in the next mayoral election among poll respondents. Those aged 18-24
were most likely (40%) to indicate the cost of living & inflation. Crime
& gun violence is a more important issue to those who live in York (22%),
East York (22%) or Scarborough (21%), compared to other areas of the city
(8%-14%).
The poll was conducted by
Forum Research with the results based on an interactive voice response
telephone survey of 1009 randomly selected Toronto residents over the age of 18,
62% by cellphone and 38% on landlines. The poll was conducted from March 22nd
to March 23rd, 2023. Results based on the total sample are
considered accurate +/- 3%, 19 times out of 20. Subsample and regional results
will be less accurate. Margins of error for subsample results are available at www.forumresearch.com/samplestim.asp.
This research is not necessarily predictive of
future outcomes, but rather captures opinion at one point in time. The poll was
conducted for the Toronto Star by Forum Research Inc.
With offices across Canada and around the world,
100% Canadian owned Forum Research is one of the country’s leading survey
research firms.
Forum Research follows the CRIC Public Opinion
Research Standards and Disclosure Requirements that can be found here: https://canadianresearchinsightscouncil.ca/standards/
