The municipal election is still more than three weeks away but it looks like Prince George residents, so infamous for being last minute for everything, have given plenty of thought to the campaign and have started to form strong opinions on who should be the next mayor.
There is nothing to be surprised about that 51 per cent of the 350 residents canvassed by OraclePoll Research in an exclusive poll for The Citizen and CKPG were still undecided. There is plenty of campaigning still to be done, plenty of all-candidates forums to come (more on that in a minute) and plenty of consideration to be done to make a choice between two worthy and experienced candidates in Lyn Hall and Don Zurowski.
The surprise, however, is in the size of the lead Zurowski enjoys over Hall. Among decided voters, 172 of them in our poll, Zurowksi received the nod from 55 per cent, with Hall picking up the remaining 45 per cent. Despite being out of the political limelight since losing the mayoral race in 2008 after three consecutive terms on city council, Zurowski clearly enjoys significant popularity. Hall has been an active city councillor in his first term and topped the polls in 2011 after leading the School District 57 board for many years but it seems, at least in the early going, that voters are liking what they're hearing from Zurowski.
Many political watchers had called a horse race between these two, reminiscent of the 2005 photo finish between incumbent mayor Colin Kinsley and challenger Dan Rogers. That could still be the case. Since the margin of error for the poll is at plus-minus 5.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20, Zurowski might enjoy only a slim five per cent lead. Those numbers could cut the other way, however, and Zurowski might have a whopping 15 per cent lead over Hall.
Drilling into the poll results further finds more bad news for Hall. Older residents aged 65-plus overwhelmingly back Zurowski, with 63 per cent of the support of decided voters in his camp. A similar margin - 62 per cent - of the male decided voters also back Zurowski. Considering the increasing average age of Prince George residents and the historically much greater turnout to the polls on election day by older citizens, Zurowski is in a comfortable position.
While Hall can be encouraged by the support of 57 per cent of the women polled (the genders were represented 50-50 as respondents) and 59 per cent of the 18-34 year old cohort, those younger voters are a fickle bunch when it comes time to cast their ballots. In other words, Hall is standing on a less dependable source of support on Nov. 15 than Zurowski is.
As mentioned above, there are several excellent upcoming opportunities for those undecided voters to hear directly from the candidates for mayor, city council and school board trustee. On Wednesday, Oct. 29, The Citizen and CBC Radio are hosting a school trustee all-candidates forum, starting at 7 p.m. in Room 1-306 at CNC. On Thursday, Nov. 6, The Citizen, CKPG and the Prince George Chamber of Commerce present a one-hour mayoral debate between Hall and Zurowski, starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Canfor Theatre at UNBC. During the final week of the campaign, The Citizen and the Prince George Public Library are teaming up for Speed Candi-Dating, starting at 7p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at the library, where individuals can have two-minute one-on-ones with the candidates, while the Chamber hosts the city council candidates for a forum on Thursday, Nov. 13 at CNC.
The Citizen will provide comprehensive coverage of each.
