Survey suggests Savage has clear lead among decided voters
HALIFAX — A new poll suggests former MP Mike Savage is running away with HRM’s mayoral election.
The latest quarterly survey from Corporate Research Associates shows 67 per cent of decided voters would choose Savage as the next mayor if the election were held today.
“I certainly would not expect that those high percentages for Mike Savage will be sustainable but it is his campaign to lose,” said CRA president Margaret Brigley.
Savage has lost two per cent support since the last poll in May, but he’s still far ahead of runner-up Tom Martin, with 13 per cent support.
Fred Connors commands 10 per cent support, Matthew Worona six and former Cape Breton councillor Vince Hall three.
The poll was conducted between Aug. 10 and 20, and Brigley says the results reflect “pre-campaign” sentiments among voters – which could change as the campaigns intensify over the next six weeks.
“Once this public campaign gets going, that’s when people will really begin to understand what those candidates stand for,” she said.
Support for Savage was highest in Dartmouth, at 82 per cent, and lowest in Mayor Peter Kelly’s home turf of BedfordSackville — at 54 per cent.
The undecided component is also highest in Bedford-Sackville, possibly reflecting rumours Kelly may yet enter the race.
Twenty-seven per cent of respondents in HRM were undecided and seven per cent said they’d pick none of the declared candidates.
The results are based on a sample of 411 adults and results are accurate to within 4.8 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.
— Ruth Davenport/Metro Halifax