TORONTO – Doug Ford has not formally entered the race to lead the Ontario Progressive Conservative party but a new poll suggests he’s tied for second.
In a random sampling of 1,104 people across Ontario, Christina Elliott, MPP for Whitby-Oshawa and widow of former federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, leads with 34 per cent support among PC voters.
But Ford is close behind with 24 per cent support.
However, who leads the PC party wouldn’t matter if the general election were held today, according to the poll – the Ontario legislature might not look much different as the Liberal party was projected to win a two seat majority.
However one hypothetical leader would make a difference: Olivia Chow.
Forum Research suggested the race to lead Ontario would be closer among all three parties if Chow were to replace Andrea Horwath as leader.
In that case, the Liberals would take 33 per cent of the vote, the PCs would get 29 per cent and the NDP would be close behind at 28 per cent.
That being said, Horwath isn’t expected to be replaced as leader of the NDP before the next election.
The poll was conducted by Forum Research between October 31 and November 1. They surveyed 1,104 randomly selected Ontarians through an interactive voice response telephone survey. Results are considered accurate +/- 3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
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