A new poll, commissioned by CP24, suggests outspoken spendthrift Rob Ford may be inching slightly over the competition in the race to take over the mayor's seat in Toronto's municipal election this fall.

The Nanos research poll, which will be released in full detail Monday morning, shows it's a horse-race between Ford and former Ontario cabinet minister George Smitherman. Ford garnered 17.8 per cent support while Smitherman received 15.9 per cent support.

However, the survey shows that 38.9 per cent of Toronto voters are undecided, which means that the frontrunners can easily slip to the back of the pack if they fail to impress the electorate.

The poll, which was commissioned by CP24, CTV Toronto and the Globe and Mail, puts deputy mayor Joe Pantalone trailing in third place with 10 per cent support. Liberal backbencher Rocco Rossi the fourth most popular candidate with 9 per cent of the vote.

Trailing the pack are magazine publisher Sarah Thomson (5.8 per cent) and long-time councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (2.5 per cent).

The results were compiled after a random telephone survey of 1,000 likely Toronto municipal voters between June 7 and June 11.

People were asked "If an election were held today, who would be your first and second choice?"

The results are accurate to 3.1 percentage points (plus or minus), 19 times out of 20.

Reaction

Smitherman was out of town Sunday at a mayor's conference in China. He couldn't be reached for comment.

Rob Ford reacted to the poll by saying voters know he's a "no-nonsense kind of guy."

"I'm going to watch ever cent spent at city hall and they say thank God it's about time," he said. "People are actually thanking me for getting into the race."

Ford says he will save Toronto taxpayers money by eliminating councillor perks.

Rossi said he's going to keep working hard.

"Slow and steady and hard work wins the race and I'm delighted we have a race," he told CTV News Sunday afternoon.

But pollster Nik Nanos said no candidate should feel too confident just yet, especially considering the high number of undecided voters.

"With that number of undecided voters we know historically that those voters tend to vote based on how the candidates and their campaigns perform," he said. "(That) means they're going to be sizing up all the different candidates and try to see who will make the best mayor for Toronto."

Those surveyed were asked a multitude of questions related to the municipal election. For full results, tune in to the CP24 Breakfast Show Monday morning.

At that time, CP24.com will also be posting the poll online.