Rob Ford finally takes a hit in the polls

Rob Ford has seemed every bit the teflon mayor in the past, as repeated scandals did little to diminish his popularity in approval ratings or campaign polls. Not so this time, it would appear. In a poll compiled shortly after Ford announced that he was taking a leave of absence, the picture finally looks less promising for the mayor. The Forum Research survey shows that "fewer than four in 10 approve of the job he's doing as mayor (38%), and this is down sharply from two weeks ago (46%). In the meantime, approval ratings for John Tory have increased (from 65% to 69%), while those for Olivia Chow are stable (60% to 58%)."

While the number of Torontonians who think the mayor should resign holds pretty steady at 63% (up slightly from 60% in December 2013), so-called Ford Nation has lost some confidence in the mayor. One quarter of voters say they will vote Rob Ford in the municipal election (with not other contenders mentioned - 25%), and this is down from three in 10 two weeks ago (April 15 - 29%), and from close to four in 10 in previous months."

As far as the mayoral race itself goes, John Tory's stock is on the rise as Ford's falls. "In a five-way race (including Rob Ford, assuming he returns), Olivia Chow would win with one third of the vote (33%), closely followed by John Tory with more than a quarter (27%). Rob Ford would take just more than a fifth (22%, while Stintz (6%) and Soknacki (5%) trail. These results represent an increase for John Tory (from 24%) and a corresponding decrease for Rob Ford (from 27%)."

What this picture will look like once Ford returns from rehab and declares himself a changed man (for real this time) is completely up in the air, but it's clear that the mayor no longer goes untouched by scandal.

Photo by BruceK in the blogTO Flickr pool.