Without Sandra Pupatello’s star power, the Ontario Liberals will lose the riding of Windsor-Tecumseh to the NDP, says a new public opinion poll.
The survey — which was conducted recently by polling firm Forum Research Inc. — found that 42 per cent of respondents in the riding said they would vote for the Ontario NDP in a by-election, compared to 32 per cent who said they would vote Liberal.
Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research Inc., said that Windsor-Tecumseh is “natural NDP territory” due to the area being part of an “industrial heartland.”
Sandra Pupatello speaks on stage at the Ontario Liberal Leadership convention in Toronto on Saturday, January 26, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
However, the figures were different when the poll framed the question with candidate names. The Liberals were favoured when the question was asked using the field who ran for the riding in the 2011 general election — but replacing incumbent Dwight Duncan’s name with Pupatello.
44 per cent of respondents in the riding said they would vote for Pupatello in a by-election if she were the Liberal candidate for Windsor-Tecumseh.
31 per cent said they would vote for past NDP candidate Andrew McAvoy.
Meanwhile, the Ontario PC Party ended up in third place no matter how the question was asked. 19 per cent of respondents said they would vote for the Tories in a by-election, and 18 per cent said they’d vote for Tory candidate Robert De Verteuil.
The Green Party fared the poorest in the poll — chosen by less than 3 per cent of those who answered.
The poll’s 403 respondents came from a random sampling of Windsor residents ages 18 and older.
Duncan — the current MPP for Windsor-Tecumseh — is set to retire from public office on Thursday. Newly sworn Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne has six months to call a by-election for the riding.
A riding map of the electoral district of Windsor-Tecumseh. Image by Elections Ontario. (Handout / The Windsor Star)
The Ontario Liberals have held the the riding since 1995 (Prior to 2003, it was known as the provincial electoral district of Windsor-St. Clair).
Duncan won the seat 18 years ago by defeating then incumbent NDP candidate Wayne Lessard. The victory came down to 380 votes in Duncan’s favour.
In recent months, Duncan has offered the riding to Pupatello, should she choose to continue in provincial politics.
Sources told The Toronto Star that Wynne offered Pupatello the plum cabinet post of Finance Minister. But Pupatello reportedly declined, despite Wynne’s personal entreaties.
According to one of the The Toronto Star’s sources, Pupatello intends on returning to the private sector. Before her recent attempt at winning the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party, Pupatello held a directorial position with financial firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Pupatello could not be reached for comment.
