Quantcast
Higgins leaps into lead: Poll – Metro US

Higgins leaps into lead: Poll

With less than one week remaining until election day, a new exclusive poll commissioned by Metro Calgary shows former CTV anchor Barb Higgins with a slight advantage over former alderman Ric McIver.

The random, automated telephone poll, conducted Saturday, Oct. 9, by Calgary-based IVRnet, asked respondents whether they planned on voting in next Monday’s civic election, and then asked which candidate would receive a vote for mayor.

Of the 829 responses indicating they would be very likely or somewhat likely to vote, 33.8 per cent said they would cast a vote for Higgins. McIver was next at 24.1 per cent, and Naheed Nenshi third at 17.3 per cent.

The timing of recent high-profile commercials during 6 p.m. news broadcasts last week and the delivery of a more detailed platform could be what catapulted Higgins ahead of McIver, according to a city political blogger.

“Now that she’s released more information, more people may have decided to get behind her,” said Shane Byciuk of calgarypolitics.com and calgaryrants.com.

Byciuk also said it’s possible voters may have gravitated to Higgins believing she’s the middle ground between McIver and Nenshi.

“Some of the voters who were supporting Nenshi or others might have moved to Barb Higgins,” said Byciuk.