Poll Shows Mayor’s Race is Still Up for Grabs

A recent Suffolk University/Boston Herald poll suggests that the Boston Mayoral race is still very much up for grabs with City Councilor At Large John Connolly and Representative Marty Walsh leading the pack.

Twelve candidates are vying for the top two spots during the city’s primary scheduled for September 24. Those two candidates that break away from the pack will then face off during the General Election on November 5.

According to the poll released last week there is still 40 percent of potential voters undecided and only four percentage points separates first place from fourth place with the rest of the pack at five percent or less. The margin of error in the poll was four percent making the race very tight by mid summer.

However, Connolly, the first to announce a candidacy for Mayor leads with 12 percent. Walsh follows Connolly with 11 percent.

District Attorney Dan Conley is close behind with nine percent followed by City Councilor Rob Consalvo with eight percent.

Councilor-at-large Felix Arroyo who is at four percent according to the poll follows the middle of the pack, which includes City Councilor Michael Ross and Charlotte Golar Richie, who are tied at five percent.

City Councilor Charles Yancey, who is at three percent, Bill Walczak, who is at two percent and John Barros, Charles Clemons Jr. and David Wyatt, all with 1 percent or less round out the rest of the field.

“Currently the top four candidates are within the poll’s margin of error, and with 40 percent undecided the race is wide open,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. “Mayor Tom Menino’s shoes will be hard to fill, but the goal of every candidate at this point is to make it to the low twenty percent range in order to qualify as one of the two finalists in September.”

Within the poll conducted by the University and Herald found that while Menino still had an 82 percent favorability rating, 51 percent of likely voters said the next mayor of Boston should have a different style than Menino.

“This year’s critical mayoral race will define the future for Boston and its neighborhoods,” said Herald Editor-in-Chief Joe Sciacca in statement. “We are excited to partner our campaign-tested reporters and editors with Suffolk University and its faculty and students to provide preeminent coverage, on-the-ground analysis, respected polling and substantive debates.”

Using the voter list from the 2012 presidential election and other Boston elections, the Suffolk University poll used a tight screen to

filter out voters who weren’t likely to vote or who couldn’t name the month of the preliminary election for mayor of Boston. All respondents who could not name the month of September were screened out. The field of 600 likely preliminary election voters was conducted Wednesday, July 10 through Monday, July 15.