Tory still ahead, Chow slips further: new poll

CTV Toronto: Candidate David Soknacki pulls out Natalie Johnson reports from City Hall as Former Toronto mayoral candidate David Soknacki bows out of the race leaving three main contenders

Support for John Tory is continuing to grow, while Olivia Chow is steadily losing support, according to results of a new poll.

The Forum Research poll found that four in 10 voters support Tory, up 4 per cent from the poll conducted Aug. 25 and 26, when Tory was found to have 36 per cent of the vote. In June, a Forum poll showed Tory had 30 per cent of support, and support has grown steadily in the following month.

Chow had 21 per cent of the vote, according to Forum. At the end of August, she had 26 per cent of support, a far cry from the 40 per cent she had in June.

Support for Rob Ford has dipped slightly, falling from 31 per cent at the end of August to 28 per cent this week. In June, Ford had 27 per cent of the vote.

The poll didn't take into account David Soknacki's resignation from the race, as it was conducted before he announced he was dropping out on Wednesday. Soknacki was found to have 6 per cent of the vote.

However, the poll suggested that if Soknacki was left out, and the race was only between Tory, Chow, and Ford, Chow would pick up most of Soknacki's supporters.

If Chow were to drop out, most of her supporters would side with Tory, the poll found. Tory would have 60 per cent of the vote, and Ford would remain at 30 per cent. The remaining 10 per cent were undecided.

The telephone poll of 1,069 randomly selected Toronto voters was conducted on Monday, Sept. 8. It's considered accurate within 3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.