New polls show Toronto might be getting a new mayor next week

New polling data shows a shift ahead of Toronto's Oct. 26 municipal election, and, for the first time, challenger Brad Bradford has pulled ahead of incumbent Olivia Chow in the race to become the city's next mayor.

A new Mainstreet Research poll released on Oct. 20 shows Bradford has taken a narrow lead in the race, with 48.9 per cent of respondents favouring the frontrunning challenger over Chow's 47.5 per cent, and 13 per cent remaining undecided with just a week to go before election day.

Quito Maggi, President & CEO of Mainstreet Research, calls Tuesday's poll results "a seismic shift in the Mayoral election in Toronto," marking the first poll placing Bradford in the lead.

"While we have seen this race tighten significantly throughout October, Chow had previously led wire to wire and led in 3 of four regions of Toronto," said Maggi. 

"Brad Bradford now leads in Etocicoke and North York and Chow leads in Scarborough & Downtown, this race will come down to turnout and get out the vote efforts from these campaigns" he said, adding that Bradford "continues to lead among older voters who are more likely to vote, so he maintains that advantage."

Despite the lead, Maggi states that "This race is truly too close to call, but Bradford now has the upper hand." 

Mainstreet's latest poll comes on the heels of another poll released by Build Canada, which released a poll on Monday that found the majority of respondents sought change at City Hall.

Of those polled by Build Canada, 67 per cent of respondents want the next mayor and city council to "try new ideas," while 60 per cent said the city needs a major change in direction at City Hall. Respondents largely felt the City makes decisions too slowly, at 55 per cent, while 61 per cent said residents don't get enough value for their property taxes and fees.

Chow led in all polls until Tuesday, and still holds leads in multiple polls as the mayoral race tightens to the closest race the city has seen in years.

Even armchair political analysts are getting in on the action through online betting sites like Polymarket, where Chow is still favoured at 65 per cent over Bradford's 37 per cent.