For weeks, if not months, we’ve lamented the lack of any independent polling in the Philly Mayoral race. Well, fret no more.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News, NBC10 and Telemundo 62 all teamed up for a survey.
The result is a massive lead for former City Councilman Jim Kenney.
Kenney stands at 42% while State Sen. Anthony Williams and ex-DA Lynne Abraham are tied for second with 15%.
Judge Nelson Diaz has 5% while Doug Oliver and Milton Street each received 3%.
Just 14% were undecided and 3% refused to answer.
Kenney’s performance is attributable to substantial cross-racial appeal. He holds a 40-point advantage over Abraham among white voters (58% to 18%). Yet he also has a narrow 33% to 25% lead over Williams among black voters.
By comparison, Williams receives just 6% of the white vote.
The number one issue was education and 44% of people concerned with education sided with Kenney.
Perhaps the biggest factor, however, was Anthony Williams’ recent decision to turn against Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
The poll found Ramsey enjoyed a 78/11 favorable/unfavorable rating, the highest of any official in Philadelphia (even narrowly edging out former Mayor and Governor Ed Rendell).
As for the candidates themselves, Kenney recorded a 68% to 9% split while Williams favorability came in at 47%. Thirty percent have an unfavorable view of the State Senator.
“We looked at Ramsey’s popularity and it is translating to Kenney,” pollster Adam Geller said. “The lesson here is you don’t pick on a popular guy.”
Finally, Mayor Michael Nutter received a 59/36 favorable/unfavorable split and a 60% approval rating.
The poll was conducted from May 9th to May 11th by National Research Inc., a Republican firm chosen because it would have no affiliation with the Democratic candidates. 600 likely primary voters were surveyed. The margin of error is plus or minus 4%.
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7 Responses
@Brian M.
Diaz is not a sitting judge, but “Judge” in this case is an honorific.
Philadelphia will elect a man that jumps when the unions beckon. Par for the course. And the union stranglehold continues, because the voters are stupid enough to believe they have any value beyond thuggery and threats.
Diaz is not a judge. If he were, he could not run for political office.
Jim Kenney is a win for the unions driving Philadelphia into bankruptcy. What happens when there is no more money? We may find out sooner than is expected. oh well…we will expect the Democrats not to let a crisis go to waste. And Philadephia’s school kids, most black, will be consigned to the failed government union schools.
If this poll is true, could Ori Feibush be the next councilman in the 2d District? Where are Williams’ voters? Also, what are the ramifications for Oliver’s nascent political career if he gets less votes than Milton Street? Why isn’t the polling company providing tabs on demographics? I’m skeptical that this poll is accurate.
Like most places that are a tad parochial, Philadelphians hate the idea that people outside the city would dare tell them what to do. Wilson Goode burned down a city block, but got re-elected in the face of national criticism by an electorate that didn’t want to admit they had made a mistake. John Street was as corrupt as anyone in recent memory, but when the FBI bugged his office, Philly voters took offense (he’s OUR crook). Same thing with Williams; suburban financial services millionaires try to buy the election and cram their mediocre charter school ideas down Philly’s throat – not so fast say Philly voters.
Williams is a private school graduate who wants to take money from the already-starving public school district and feed it to charter companies that the susquehanna guys have large bets on. Screw him.