By Andrew Macdonald
A political poll from Narrative Research of Halifax finds that a survey of 500 residents of Halifax Regional Municipality sees mayoral contender Andy Fillmore as the most preferred candidate for office.
But, the poll also finds half of voters have not made their minds up in terms of the mayoral race.
“Over half of HRM residents have no clear preference for mayor as of yet, although Andy Fillmore is most often named the preferred mayoral candidate,” says the Narrative report.
“Housing, public transit and road conditions top the list as most important issues in the upcoming municipal election,” the poll notes.
The election is set for Oct. 19.
“When presented with a list of mayoral candidates and asked who they would most prefer as mayor, half of residents (52 per cent) indicated that they don’t know or are not sure.
“That said, Andy Fillmore was most often selected as the preferred candidate (23 per cent), followed distantly by Waye Mason (nine per cent and Pam Lovelace (four per cent),” reports Narrative.
Andy Fillmore is the most preferred candidate in a poll on the HRM mayor’s race. The Notebook/Avery Mullen
Looked at another way, Fillmore has a commanding lead of 49 per cent among decided voters, Mason has 19 per cent support, and Lovelace is third with eight per cent support.
“Findings show that four key issues are most important to residents in the upcoming election. Top of the list is finding suitable housing options for those who are unhoused, with seven in 10 (70 per cent) selecting it as the most important issue in this election. While this issue was deemed most important across all demographics, it holds higher importance among those aged 18-34, and residents living in lower-income households,” the poll reports.
“Four in 10 (44 per cent) consider creating better public transit for all of HRM to be a most important issue, closely followed by improving road conditions (36 per cent) and reducing municipal taxes (32 per cent),” adds the pollster.
Pam Lovelace is running to become mayor of Halifax/HRM.
Other issues identified as the most important issue by a small minority of the population included restrictions on development rules (15 per cent), and the opposite issue – easing of development rules (13 per cent). Approximately one in 10 identified better parking options downtown (12 per cent), increased funding for libraries (nine per cent), increasing bike routes/bike safety (nine per cent), increasing pedestrian paths (eight per cent), or more focus on historic preservation of buildings (eight per cent) as important.
“Voter turnout is traditionally low for municipal elections, with just 40 percent of residents voting in the last HRM municipal election,” said Margaret Chapman of Narrative Research.
“With half of residents currently unsure who they would prefer as mayor of Halifax, the race winner is clearly not yet decided, and the coming month will be very important for candidates.”
Halifax Regional Councillor Waye Mason is one of three running for mayor of Halifax.
Results are from Narrative Research’s East Coast Voice online panel. The online survey was conducted between Aug. 8 and 21, with 493 Halifax residents aged 18 years or older. A margin of error for the poll was not identified by Narrative.
