Toronto mayoral candidate Rob Ford.Kevin Van Paassen
With only five weeks to go until election day, Toronto Mayoral candidate Rob Ford has the backing of 45.8 per cent of decided voters, while former front-runner George Smitherman has the support of 21.3 per cent.
Joe Pantalone (16.8 per cent), Rocco Rossi (9.7 per cent) and Sarah Thomson (6.4 per cent) round out the top-five contenders, according to a Nanos Research telephone poll of 1,021 Torontonians conducted between Sept. 14 and Sept. 16.
"As of today, this election is about Rob Ford and whether he has what it takes to be mayor," said Nik Nanos, the president and chief executive officer of Nanos Research. "This changes the dynamic significantly."
As the Globe's Toronto columnist Marcus Gee writes Monday: "Through the spring and summer, as Rob Ford climbed steadily in the polls, his rivals consoled themselves that Toronto wasn't really paying attention yet. Once the race got going in earnest after Labour Day, voters - especially moderate downtown voters - would wise up and swing to a more sensible candidate. The new Nanos Research poll turns that conventional wisdom upside down.
"The notion that voters would turn off Mr. Ford once they got a good look at him in the bright September sun simply has not panned out. To the contrary, the more they see of him, the more they like him."
What about you? Are you more likely to vote for or against Rob Ford now that he's the clear leader in the race? How tuned-in to the election have you been?
Earlier Monday, Pollster Nik Nanos, Globe columnist Marcus Gee, City Hall Bureau Chief Kelly Grant and City Hall reporter Anna Mehler Paperny answered reader questions on the rise of Ford, and the collapse of everyone else. You can read the chat by clicking on the panel below, and if you're a mobile user you can click here to check out what happened.