Mayoral candidate Glen Murray loses support but remains top choice of Winnipeg voters

Winnipeg mayoral candidate Glen Murray has lost support over the past few weeks but remains the leading choice among decided voters, according to a Leger poll commissioned by rival candidate Scott Gillingham.

An online Leger poll of 496 Winnipeg adults conducted between Oct. 6 and 11 suggests Murray had the support of 28 per cent of decided Winnipeg voters.

That's a drop of 12 percentage points from a September Probe Research poll that suggested Murray enjoyed the support of 40 per cent of the decided electorate.

"This is October now and people are starting to sort of pay more attention to the campaign," said Andrew Enns, Leger's vice-president responsible for central Canada. 

Candidates save their strongest material for the final weeks of the six-month campaign, he said.

"These municipal campaigns are brutal. They start in May and you kind of make up things until things get more real, and I think they are now starting to get real."

Murray, who served as Winnipeg's mayor from 1998 to 2004, said he is pleased to see he is consistently leading in every 2022 poll and that his campaign is resonating with voters.

WATCH | Glen Murray tells CBC Manitoba host Marcy Markusa why he wants the job of mayor:

"But no poll will ever have us take for granted the importance of every Winnipegger's voice and support. We will continue to run like we're one vote behind," Murray said in a statement.

The Leger poll also suggested Murray's loss of support has not translated into a significant groundswell of support for any other candidate, including the one who commissioned the poll.

The new poll suggested two-term St. James councillor Gillingham is running in second place, with 19 per cent of decided-voter support. That's up from 15 per cent in the September Probe Research poll, but that four-percentage-point rise remains within the Leger's poll's equivalent margin of error.

Gillingham nonetheless claimed he has momentum in this race.

"Voters are taking a critical look at Glen Murray, and this is going to be a close race," he said in a statement.

The Leger poll suggested Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood Coun. Kevin Klein has pulled into third place, with 14 per cent support. That's up four percentage points from the September Probe Research poll.