Just about a month out from Ottawa’s mayoral election, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has opened up a 16-point lead over Coun. Jeff Leiper in the latest horserace, though more than a quarter of voters remain unsure who they would support. 

A new poll conducted by ElectRight between Sep. 17-18 found 35 per cent of respondents would back Sutcliffe if the election were held today, compared with 19 per cent of Leiper.

Economist Neil Saravanamuttoo sat at 10 per cent and homebuilder Alex Lawson at four per cent, while 28 per cent were unsure. 

Commissioned by Ottawa Compass and iPolitics, the ElectRight poll surveyed roughly 600 people through phone and text messages and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. 

More than those polled were 55 or older, while 34 per cent reported household incomes above $150,000. Men made up 53 per cent of respondents, compared with 44 per cent who were women. 

Public transit remains the dominant issue in the race, with 31 per cent of respondents identifying fixing transit as the top priority for Ottawa’s next mayor Keeping property taxes as low as possible came a distant second at 17 per cent, followed by public safety at 14 per cent and the city’s infrastructure backlog at 13 per cent. 

Among respondents who had already picked a candidate, support also appeared relatively firm: 51 per cent said they were absolutely certain they would vote for their choice, while another 30 per cent said they were very likely to do so. 

Advancing voting starts on Oct. 1, actual election day will take place on Monday Oct. 26.