Doug Ford in solid second in 1st poll since joining mayor’s race
Posted September 12, 2014 10:59 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Doug Ford is clearly in the running to be the next mayor of Toronto, according to the first poll since he threw his hat in ring earlier Friday afternoon.
The Forum poll conducted exclusively for CityNews and the Toronto Star has Doug Ford garnering 34 per cent of the vote – edging higher than his brother Rob Ford, who had just 28 per cent in Forum’s previous poll on September 8.
Friday night’s poll has John Tory maintaining his lead with 41 per cent (up from 40), while Olivia Chow continues to slide at just 19 per cent (down from 21).
“Doug has the advantage of entering the campaign late and not having a record of four years as mayor to defend,” said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.
“He can take the weekend, regroup and announce policy on Monday, when people are ready to listen. He appears to have swept up virtually all of Ford Nation with him, so we see no reason why he won’t continue to do as well, or even outperform the mayor, at least for the first weeks of the new campaign.
“Six weeks is forever in politics, as we learned this week, and Doug has time to shine or stumble.”
The poll also found that Doug Ford’s support grew after he began his emotional speech outside of his mother’s home in Etobicoke – jumping three points during his address.
The results come after a whirlwind day at city hall, as Mayor Rob Ford withdrew his name from the ballot and declared that he would instead run for a council seat in Ward 2.
The mayor has been diagnosed with an abdominal tumour and is awaiting biopsy results. They are expected next week.
With the mayor jumping out, his brother jumped in, saying he did so “with mixed emotions and a very heavy heart.”
The deadline to withdraw or join the mayoral race was 2 p.m. Friday.
The poll randomly sampled 1228 voters and has a margin of error of three per cent.
