Mississauga residents continue to be united in their support for long-time mayor Hazel McCallion but when it comes to choosing a successor they are completely divided, according to a new poll.
The Forum Research telephone poll of 612 randomly selected Mississaugans found that 27 per cent plan to cast their ballot in favour of former MPP and MP Steve Mahoney compared to 25 per cent who said they would instead vote for former MP and current city councillor Bonnie Crombie.
The remaining 48 per cent of respondents said they were undecided.
Mahoney was most popular among the oldest (37 per cent), the least educated (35 per cent) and those who live west of Hurontario Street (31 per cent)
Crombie did the best among those who make between $40,000 and $60,000 a year (39 per cent) and those who live north of Eglinton Avenue (28 per cent).
“This race has settled in since the last time we polled it and both leading candidates are pretty evenly matched,” Forum Research President Dr. Lorne Bozinoff said in a press release accompanying the poll. “They’re both running active campaigns, so we may expect to see one of them try something surprising to break out of the tie.”
Crombie and Mahoney are among six candidates running to succeed the 93-year-old McCallion, who is retiring after more than 35 years in office.
The wildly popular mayor known as “Hurricane Hazel” by many continues to be a force to be reckoned with in Mississauga with 85 per cent of respondents saying they approved of the job she is doing. That is compared to an approval rate of 63 per cent for Mahoney and 61 per cent for Crombie.
The poll was conducted on April 10 and is considered accurate to within four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
@chrisfoxnews is on Twitter. Remember for instant breaking news follow @cp24 on Twitter.
