New poll suggests Andrea Horwath leading Hamilton mayoral race
With just a week to go before the municipal election, a new Mainstreet Research poll shows former Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath is leading the mayoral race.
About 36 per cent of voters favour Horwath's leadership, followed by 29 per cent for Keanin Loomis and 12 per cent for former mayor Bob Bratina, the telephone poll of 694 adults in Hamilton shows.
Roughly 20 per cent of voters said they are undecided.
The poll - commissioned by iPolitics and Mainstreet - suggests that voters between the ages of 18 and 45 and with incomes under $100,000 side with Horwath, while Loomis drew support from more affluent voters and those over 65 years old.
There's a suggestion here that maybe the wealthier kind of suburban voters are turning away from her, but Horwath is dominant with younger voters and voters with (a high school education), so basically she's going to be dominant in downtown Hamilton," Mainstreet analyst Robert Martin said in a statement.
The results show Loomis, the former head of Hamilton's chamber of commerce, is closing in on Horwath in the lead-up to election day. A July telephone survey by Mainstreet found 37 per cent of voters were leaning" toward voting for Horwath compared to just 14 per cent for Loomis and 13 per cent for Bratina. At that time, 35 per cent of voters had yet to make up their minds.
Horwath served on Hamilton city council in the mid-1990s before moving on to Queen's Park as Hamilton Centre MPP. Loomis announced his run for mayor earlier this year and subsequently stepped down from his chamber role.
Whoever wins the Oct. 24 vote will take over for outgoing mayor Fred Eisenberger.
The latest poll also asked respondents for their views on the most important issues facing the city. Leading the way at 37 per cent was affordable housing, followed by decreasing taxes (25 per cent) and roads and infrastructure (22 per cent).
It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 per cent, Mainstreet said. Totals don't necessarily add up to 100 per cent due to rounding.
Ritika Dubey is a reporter at The Spectator. rdubey@thespec.com