Who are Calgarians putting their support behind in the upcoming Civic Election?

It’s still more than two months until Calgarians go to the polls to elect a new Mayor and so far it’s shaping up to be a horse race.

Yesterday, former TV anchor Barb Higgins broke her silence, joining the race for the Mayor’s chair.

Many are wondering what kind of support she will have as well as who Calgarians are putting their support behind?

Global News has commissioned an exclusive poll from NRG Research Group to see which candidates have the most support. NRG randomly contacted 500 Calgarians last night and this morning. They asked participates which candidates voters could name from memory, then asked decided voters who they would vote for if the election were held today.

On the name recognition front, it appears the advantage lies with Higgins. When asked which candidate for Mayor comes to mind first, 27% of those polled named Barb. In second place, with 20% was Ric McIver. Statistically, the results show a tie, with the remainder of the candidates receiving percentages around 2-3%.

39% of people polled were unsure or couldn’t name a mayoral candidate without prompting.

When asked which Mayoral candidate they intended to vote for or which candidate they were learning toward, Barb Higgins came out on top once again with 16% favouring her. Ric McIver was a close second at 15%. Other candidates were far behind scoring 1% of voters or less. 51% of voters were still undecided on who they’ll cast a ballot for.

Not taking into account the undecided voter, if election night were held today, Higgins would come out on top with 44% of the votes, followed by McIver with a 40% share. Bob Hawkesworth comes in third with 3%.

NRG Research Group cautions that it is still sometime before election night, but the poll results could be an early sign of how the campaigning may play out.