This year's Montreal mayoralty election is shaping up to be a close two-way race.
A poll conducted by Mainstreet/Qc125 shows mayor Denis Coderre leading with 30 per cent of decided voter support, compared with 25 per cent for his main challenger, Projet Montreal's Valerie Plante.
With less than six weeks to go before the Nov. 5 voting day, there are a lot of undecideds at this stage — 41 per cent of Montrealers.
A Leger Marketing poll done in June put Coderre at 36 per cent and Plante at 22 per cent.
The poll, conducted late last week as the campaign officially launched, shows a significant linguistic split. Plante leads among francophones with 33 per cent support, compared with 29 per cent for Coderre — a virtual dead heat.
But among non-francophones, Coderre leads by a wide margin — 33 per cent, compared with 10 per cent support for Plante.
Coalition Montreal's Jean Fortier, who declared his candidacy only last week, is polling in the low single digits.