Almost a third of decided voters see city councillor Rob Ford as a trustworthy mayoral candidate who would best represent Toronto, a CP24 survey has discovered.

The latest batch of results from the Nanos poll, commissioned by CP24, CTV and the Globe and Mail, found that 30.4 per cent of decided Toronto voters see Ford as the candidate who can best represent Toronto.

Ford's closest contender, former deputy premier George Smitherman, was seen as the best representative by about half of that number, at 15.9 per cent.

Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone was seen as the best representative by 11.8 per cent of voters; while former political adviser Rocco Rossi and businesswoman Sarah Thomson trailed behind at 7.4 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively.

A notable 29.8 per cent said they were unsure who would best represent the city.

Trustworthiness and legal issues

When asked which candidate appeared the most trustworthy, the numbers were similar. The largest group of respondents, however, was unsure, at 32.5 per cent.

Here's how the candidates fared:

  • Rob Ford – 28.6 per cent
  • George Smitherman – 13.6 per cent
  • Joe Pantalone – 12.9 per cent
  • Rocco Rossi – 7.2 per cent
  • Sarah Thomson – 5.1 per cent

When asked about whether they would consider voting for a candidate for mayor who had been previously arrested on a personal matter, but the charges later dropped, a whopping 46.7 per cent said they would consider it.

Only 25.3 per cent said they would not, while 5 .5 per cent were unsure. The remaining respondents fell somewhere in the middle of "would" and "would not."

Ford, who the polls shows to be in a commanding lead among likely voters, has had several brushes with the law including an arrest in Florida in 1999 for driving under the influence and marijuana possession.

The pot charges were later dropped, but the councillor pleaded guilty to DUI after failing to give a breath sample to police.

Nanos Research President Nik Nanos says the poll's results show Ford has a comfortable lead over his opponents when it comes to leadership and trust.

"Only one in four voters outright said they would not consider voting for an unnamed candidate who had a brush with the law, while 47 per cent said they would absolutely consider voting for someone who had a brush with the law," Nanos told CP24.

Monday's results

In results from the same poll released Monday, Ford was shown to be leading the race with 45.8 per cent of decided voters – 24 points ahead of Smitherman, who has 21.3 per cent of support from decided voters.

Pantalone has made significant strides since the last CP24 poll in June. He now has 16.8 per cent of support from decided voters. Rocco Rossi (9.7 per cent) and Sarah Thomson (6.4 per cent) round out the pack of front-runners.

Despite the findings, 25 per cent of those polled said they still haven't decided who they are voting for on election day.

A total of 1,021 people were polled through random telephone interviews between Sept. 14 and 16. The margin of accuracy for a random sample of 1,021 likely voters is 3.1 percentage points, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20.