(DIR) Home
        
        
       Carolyn Parrish enjoys strong lead in final stretch of Mississauga
       mayoral race: poll
        
 (HTM) Source
        
       ----------------------------------------------------------------------
        
       A new survey shows former councillor Carolyn Parrish is well ahead of
       her nearest rivals in Mississauga's mayoral race.
        
       According to a survey released Monday, Parrish now sits at 37 per cent
       support among decided voters. That's followed by 20 per cent support
       for councillor and former MPP Dipika Damerla and 17 per cent for Coun.
       Alvin Tedjo.
        
       Coun. Stephen Dasko has 11 per cent support among decided voters,
       while Brian Crombie, ex-husband of former mayor Bonnie Crombie, has
       seven per cent support.
        
       The poll was conducted by Liaison Strategies for the National Ethnic
       Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) from April 29-30. It used
       interactive voice response technology to survey 907 Mississauga
       residents. Its has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.25 percentage
       points, 19 times out of 20.
        
       "So among decided voters, those who have made up their minds -- we
       take the undecided voters out of the equation, we've got Carolyn
       Parrish at 37 per cent with a (nearly) 20 point lead," Liaison
       Strategies Principal David Valentin told CP24. "It's quite an
       accomplishment for her right now, and, you know, a pretty big
       substantial lead at this point, given that we're a month away from
       Election Day in Mississauga."
        
       The poll puts Parrish up eight point from the last poll, which was
       conducted March 21-22. Since then, Peter McCallion, son of former
       longtime mayor Hazel McCallion, dropped out of the race and threw his
       support to Parrish.
        
       Valentin noted that on top of her already-large lead, Parrish is
       polling better with seniors than anyone else too.
        
       "So the biggest group of voters that people are going to be targeting
       is always seniors, because seniors statistically speaking, are the
       most likely to go out and vote," Valentin said. "And among voters who
       are over the age of 65, Carolyn Parrish has a really big lead. It's
       actually even bigger than her overall lead in Mississauga. So this
       actually bodes really well for her."
        
       He said her rivals will likely be looking to target seniors as the
       campaign heads into its final stretch.
        
       However fewer people (just 25 per cent) are undecided as election day
       draws near.
        
       "In survey after survey after survey, it's been going down, which
       makes sense," Valentin said. "This is the typical behavior we see
       during an election campaign. As more and more people see who's
       running, see what they want to do, they make up their mind, they
       decide where they're going to cast their ballots. So that's not
       surprising to us, necessarily."
        
       While Parrish enjoys a strong lead, Valentin pointed out that many
       voters only start to pay attention in the final stretch of the race
       and there haven't been any debates yet.
        
       Voters in Mississauga are set to head to the polls on June 10 to pick
       a new mayor.
        
       The election was triggered when former mayor Bonnie Crombie stepped
       down in order to become the leader of Ontario Liberal Party.
        
        
        
        
       ______________________________________________________________________
                                                 Served by Flask-Gopher/2.2.1