Why the winner of the Toronto election is literally anyone's bet
CTV
With five weeks left in Toronto's mayoral election, the race is starting to get a little more interesting — and garnering more interest for that matter.
With five weeks left in Toronto's mayoral election, the race is starting to get a little more interesting — and garnering more interest for that matter.
Monday saw the first major election of the race with five out of the top six polling candidates taking part. Front-runner Olivia Chow took heavy fire, but lobbed back answers to most of the questions which were aimed her way.
The first poll released since the debate seems to reflect a decent performance, with Chow maintaining her lead. But Ana Bailão has gained ground. The latest poll puts her at 21 per cent support, within nine points of Chow (30 per cent) among decided voters. That's a six point bump for Bailão compared to the last poll done by Mainstreet Research a week earlier.
Mark Saunders, who did not take part in the debate due to a conflict, dropped from 12 to 10 per cent support according to the poll, which surveyed 1,125 voters by phone May 16-17 and has a margin of error of +/- 2.9 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Josh Matlow stood in third spot, with 14 per cent support.
As things heat up the oddsmakers are getting in on the action, with betting platform FanDuel Sportsbook offering people a chance to place a wager on the outcome of the election.
According to FanDuel, the company is offering betting on the election as part of its “novelty betting” category to “help put probabilities against the everyday moments that people in Ontario care about.”
(People can also place bets on Victoria Day weather and the next Raptors head coach).