Auckland mayoral candidate Efeso Collins during the debate at Auckland University on Tuesday evening. Photo / Greg Bowker
Auckland mayoral candidate Efeso Collins during the debate at Auckland University on Tuesday evening. Photo / Greg Bowker
The see-sawing of poll winners for preferred Auckland mayor continues - with Efeso Collins coming out on top among decided voters in the latest poll.
Only two weeks out from the final day of voting in the Auckland local election, a new poll shows Collins has pulled ahead of fellow front-runner Wayne Brown among voters who know who they will vote for in the tight race for the Auckland mayoralty.
But still, those who listed themselves as 'unsures' received the greatest response; a third of responders.
The new poll, released today, was commissioned by Talbot Mills for the Collins campaign.
It shows Collins at 27 per cent and Brown at 25 per cent when 'unsures' are excluded.
Including 'unsures' (who made up 34 per cent of those asked), Collins was at 19 per cent and Brown on 17 per cent.
"This poll is very tight, as we've always said, and I will be working around the clock in the last two weeks to turn out the vote," Collins said.
The poll uses four weeks of rolling data, with a total of 1230 voters polled (including 'unsures') and 740 voters polled once 'unsures' are removed. It includes only one week of polling with Viv Beck out of the race.
"As I've knocked on doors around the city and met people, I've heard that people want a positive mayor with a positive vision for Auckland," Collins said.
"I'm heartened by what I'm hearing, and I'll keep rolling up my sleeves to make sure Aucklanders get a mayor they can be proud of."
The last Talbot Mills poll results for the week ending September 15, were released on Wednesday night, which showed that businessman Brown may have had his nose in front.
"Clearly the wheels have fallen off their campaign if they can only release four-week-old poll results.," said a campaign spokesperson for Brown.
"Full transparency would be releasing numbers from this week without obfuscation, but they would show the momentum in Wayne Brown's campaign. Efeso won't front up to Aucklanders - whether it's his data, the billion-dollar CRL cost overrun, or pulling out of six scheduled events this week," they said.
The latest Ratepayers' Alliance-Curia poll shows momentum is building for Brown, while support for Collins, endorsed by the Labour and Green parties, is stuck in the mid-20s.
The Ratepayers' Alliance-Curia poll shows that Brown has jumped nine points since the last poll six weeks ago to 28 per cent, while Collins has risen by four points to 26 per cent.
In the first poll since restaurateur Leo Molloy withdrew from the race last month, it shows Beck, who also withdrew during the period of polling, on 10 per cent, followed by Craig Lord on 8 per cent, Ted Johnston on 4 per cent, Hibiscus and Bays Local Board chairman Gary Brown on 3 per cent and 16 other candidates between 0 and 2 per cent.
Another poll was also conducted by Talbot Mills asking 210 Aucklanders who they trusted more, Collins or Brown. In that, 26 per cent of voters said they trusted Collins, 25 per cent trusted Brown and the other 49 per cent were unsure.
Postal voting has started and closes at midday on October 8.
