Edmontonians largely dissatisfied with top six mayoral candidates in next week’s municipal election: CityNews poll

While Tim Cartmell and Andrew Knack are the frontrunners to become Edmonton’s next mayor, a new poll for CityNews found most voters feel none of the candidates are right for the job.

Just days away from Monday’s municipal election, the Canada Pulse Insights poll for CityNews revealed Cartmell and Knack are leading the field – often with little separating them – in terms of their vision for the future, their trustworthiness, and how well they reflect the values and interests of Edmontonians.

But a large proportion of respondents simply feel none of the top six mayoral candidates – including Michael Walters, Rahim Jaffer, Omar Mohammad and Tony Caterina – are up to the task, painting a portrait of dissatisfaction and distrust among Edmonton’s electorate towards those vying to replace outgoing mayor Amarjeet Sohi.

Best vision for the future

Seventeen per cent of respondents found Knack, the longtime city councillor who is running as an independent, has the best vision for the future, just narrowly ahead of Cartmell, at 16 per cent.

Both were ahead of Walters (10 per cent), Jaffer (seven per cent), Mohammad (six per cent) and Caterina (four per cent).

But the largest share of respondents – 39 per cent – felt none of the top six candidates have the best vision for the future.

‘Right stuff’ to lead the city

And that’s a trend seen throughout the survey of 423 Edmontonians.

Thirty-nine per cent of those polled felt no candidate has the “right stuff” to lead Edmonton.

That polling question saw Cartmell, who is running under the “Better Edmonton” banner, earn his biggest advantage over Knack – 20 per cent to 14 per cent. Walters was third at 12 per cent.

Best reflects interests, values

Cartmell, with 16 per cent, came out on top when respondents were asked which candidate best reflects their values and interests, narrowly topping Knack at 15 per cent.

Walters again finished third with 12 per cent, ahead of Jaffer (seven), Mohammad (six), and Caterina (three).

Once again, a large proportion of Edmontonians polled expressed their disapproval of the slate of candidates, with 41 per cent of them saying none of them best reflected their values and interests.

Trustworthiness

That dissatisfaction with the top six candidates was again felt when respondents were asked who they could trust, with 45 per cent selecting “none of the above.”

Knack and Cartmell were tied for first at 14 per cent. Walters (11 per cent), Mohammad (seven), Jaffer (six) and Caterina (three) rounded out the top six.

Edmonton heading in the wrong direction?

That dissatisfaction at the municipal level was a constant among poll respondents.

Seventy-four per cent feel Edmonton is on the wrong track, compared to 26 per cent who say it’s headed in the right direction.

A vast majority – 80 per cent – believe Mayor Sohi and city council are out of touch with what residents want and need, and 66 per cent say city council is doing a bad job for Edmonton.

And while 49 per cent of respondents felt their local ward councillor is doing a good job for the city, only 32 per cent felt they deserve to be re-elected.

The Oct. 20 election will see Edmontonians go to the polls to vote in a new mayor, city councillors and school board trustees.

---

The CityNews–Canada Pulse Insights online poll was conducted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6 among a random selection of 423 members of the Sago online panel living in Edmonton. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size would have a margin of error of 4.8%, 19 times out of 20.