Tory tops new poll as voters focus on transit
Posted July 7, 2014 9:42 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Rob Ford is back, but in the heart of voters, according to the latest poll, he’s far from being first choice to be mayor.
The poll, conducted by Nanos Research, marked the first time that candidate John Tory is in the lead with 39 per cent support of decided voters. Olivia Chow came in second with 32 per cent support and Ford a distant third at 21 per cent.
Nanos president, Nik Nanos, told 680News, Ford’s time in rehab has been a “significant distraction’ to voters and that since his return he has not been talking about what the people want to hear.
“Voters are practical. When they’re thinking about who’s going to be the next mayor of Toronto they think about what’s in it for me and what are they going to do for the city,” he explained. “Looking at the numbers right now, John Tory and also Olivia Chow are the two candidates that are doing the better job at speaking to Torontonians.”
Nanos says Tory and Chow have been receiving “political dividends” by focusing on issues like transit.
However, he adds that each politician holds their destiny in their own hands.
“They can either blow up or propel themselves, many times those things happen at the same time” he said. “I think for Rob Ford, if he wants any chance of getting back in the race he has to get off talking about his personal life and start talking about issues that are of interest to Torontonians such as transit and taxes.”
Nanos said that transit was the top issue in the poll with 35 per cent of respondents.
Six-hundred Torontians took part in the poll with a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent.
