Riders beat Lions to punch ticket to CFL West final
Nov 03, 2024
The Riders are back in the West final for the first time since 2021.
The leaderboard for Saskatoon’s mayoral race up is being shaken up a week before election day.
According to the latest Mainstreet/Postmedia poll, incumbent Don Atchison is the listed frontrunner with the support of one in three Saskatoon residents.
“With the race coming to a close it looks like Don Atchison is the favourite at the moment” said David Valentin, the executive vice-president of Mainstreet Research, in a news release Wednesday.
While Atchison made a three percentage point gain to 30%, his advance to first isn’t cut and dry – it’s a statistical tie.
His closest rival in the standings, Kelley Moore, also bested her numbers from last week’s poll, moving up one percentage point to 28.
The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.36%, 19 times out of 20. A random sample of 853 Saskatoon residents were surveyed Monday, using a mix of landlines and cellphones.
Valentin noted the incumbent has been able to recapture his initial base, as Atchison began the race with 29 per cent support.
“Right now the anti-Atchison vote is fractured, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for one candidate to consolidate support,” he said.
Charlie Clark gained two percentage points to 21%, while backing for candidate Devon Hein went down from five per cent to four. Undecided voters account for 17%.
The latest poll also asked people if they were strong supporters of their candidate or if they would change their mind.
Seventy per cent said they were steadfast in standing behind Atchison, while only half of Moore and Clark voters felt they wouldn’t choose differently.
“Support is relatively soft among supporters for Kelley Moore and Charlie Clark, so now it will come down to whether one of the two of them can really make an impression at the final debate and the closing days of the campaign,” Valentin said.
The last opportunity for candidates to stake their claim against each other is Thursday night’s CTV debate, which will be broadcast on 650 CKOM starting at 6 p.m.
Advance voting is already underway. Election day is Oct. 26.