A survey showed that Karen Redman is the favourite among decided voters in the region, but many people are still uncertain of who they’ll vote for.
Incumbent Ken Seiling announced earlier that he would not be seeking re-election after 33 years in the position, making it anyone's race to win.
Using ‘robo call’ technology, the survey sent out calls over Tuesday and Wednesday to ask voters questions about the candidates.
Of those called, 513 responses qualified for consideration.
“The first thing I’ll stress is it showed a third of voters are still undecided in the race,” said Anthony Piscitelli, a professor at Conestoga College who was involved in the survey.
Of the 63 per cent of decided voters, 67 per cent of those said they would vote for Karen Redman.
Political science professor Peter Woolstencroft called this a low-information election.
Because there are no political party affiliations, and without any galvanizing issues like the LRT, Woolstencroft said it could be difficult for people to decide among candidates.
Candidates who scored lower percentages were not worried about the results.
“The sample size of roughly 530 individuals is quite small. The only poll that matters is the one that takes place on election day,” said candidate Jay Aissa.
Rob Deutschmann, who was surveyed in second place with 18 per cent, said simply, “#2 always tries harder.”
For candidate Jan d’Ailly, whose name is pronounced ‘Yohn Dye-ee,’ his concern was in the fact that his name is often misinterpreted, and thus might not have translated to voters over the phone.
The survey claimed to have had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.25 per cent.
For more information about the race for regional chair, visit our 2018 Municipal Election Hub.
