A Franklin and Marshall poll out this morning has Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter leading a hypothetical primary field, but 53% of voters believe it’s time for a change in the mayor’s office.

The poll, taken from January 31-February 7, reflects the general sense among Philly politicos that Nutter is going to cruise to a relatively easy renomination. It measured Nutter against city councilman Bill Green and State Senator Anthony Williams (who recently ruled out a mayoral bid anyway). Nutter leads 39%-17%-17% respectively. Nutter also leads businessman Tom Knox, who has recently been discussed as a possible independent candidate, 46%-28%.

Opinions of Nutter are net-favorable, 50%-32%.

Perhaps the more troubling news for Nutter is that only 37% of voters believe he deserves re-election, while 53% said that it’s time for a change. 4% of voters rate his job performance as excellent, 30% say good, 42% say fair, and 24% believe he’s doing a poor job. More whites (50%) than blacks (23%) rate the mayor’s performance excellent or good.

These numbers seem to lend credence to the notion that Nutter would be most vulnerable in a two-way race, particularly against a well-known African American opponent.

The city of Philadelphia also got mixed reviews from its residents. About half (47%) of city residents rate Philadelphia as an excellent or good place to live. Nearly two in three (63%) city residents believe Philadelphia is better or the same as a place to live compared to four years ago.

Additionally, a majority of city residents (58%) believes that one casino license is enough
for the city.

F&M interviewed 400 adults (among them 320 registered voters). The sample error for this survey is +/- 4.9 percentage points. The sample error for registered adults is +/- 5.5 percentage points.