Farkas, Gondek in a dead heat for mayor’s seat: poll

Posted Oct 12, 2021 8:59 am.

Last Updated Oct 12, 2021 8:42 pm.

CALGARY – A new poll has Jeromy Farkas and Jyoti Gondek neck and neck with less than a week to go before Calgarians decide who will sit in the mayor’s chair.

Common Sense Calgary’s survey of more than 4,500 Calgarians shows Farkas leading Gondek by just one per cent.

The group’s research found that 35 per cent of decided voters say they’ll be casting a ballot for Farkas, with 34 per cent backing Gondek.

“Given the large sample size and small margin of error of this poll, this race is statistically a dead heat,” the pollster said.

Jeff Davison was a distant third, with 14 per cent of decided voters saying they’d be voting for the Ward 6 councillor.

Who Calgarians plan to elect as their councillors

Common Sense’s poll went further than just looking at who will fill outgoing mayor Naheed Nenshi’s shoes. The group dove into each ward to get a better look at who might make up Calgary’s city council for the next few years.

However, Common Sense did not include results for Ward 5 or Ward 9.

“While polls tend to be accurate within the margin of error 19 times out of 20, in these two particular wards the margin of error was much higher than we would normally be comfortable with, thanks to a smaller response rate,” Common Sense said.

Former city staffer Sonya Sharp (45 per cent) has a significant lead on the second-place candidate, Steve Webb (14 per cent), in Ward 1.

Most Ward 2 voters seem to be in favour of adding Jennifer Wyness (44 per cent) to council, with Kim Tyers (35 per cent) in second place. Joe Magliocca, who faces criminal charges, is in third place.

A slightly more competitive race is unfolding in Ward 3, where Jasmine Mian is in first with 36 per cent of the vote, followed by Brent Trenholm, with 27 per cent of the vote.

Ward 4’s incumbent councillor, Sean Chu, looks set for re-election, with 54 per cent of decided voters saying they’re backing Chu. Second place DJ Kelly has 33 per cent of the vote.

Richard Pootmans, a former councillor, might be making a comeback as he captures 55 per cent of the vote, almost double than that of his second-place opponent Sanjeev Kad.

Terry Wong and Erin Waite have a tighter race in Ward 7, with Wong coming out on top with 29 per cent and Waite with 25 per cent.

Former Calgary reporter Gary Bobrovitz has a narrow lead in Ward 8, with 23 per cent of decided voters saying Bobrovitz is their choice. Courtney Walcott is in second with 18 per cent.

Another former Calgary councillor, Andre Chabot, might also return to council with 44 per cent of voters in Ward 10 saying they’ll be voting in his favour. He’s polling well ahead of former Liberal staffer Abed Harb who is sitting at 13 per cent.

It looks likely that Rob Ward will be the new face of Ward 11, according to the pollster, which has Ward in first (36 per cent) and Kourtney Branagan (22 per cent) in second.

Evan Spencer, who used to work for councilor Shane Keating, is leading in Ward 12, with 41 per cent. Craig Chandler (24 per cent) is in second.

In Ward 13, incumbent councillor Diane Colley-Urquhart is a distant third among voters. Dan McLean is in first with over half of decided voters finding him the most attractive option, and Jay Unsworth is in second, capturing 27 per cent.

Councilor Peter Demong will likely be reelected in Ward 14, polling at 66 per cent, well ahead of second-place Anton Ovtchinnikov at 16 per cent.

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