Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath makes her way towards her campaign bus after making an announcement on health care during a campaign stop in Toronto on May 24, 2018. A Forum Research poll shows Horwath’s party could have a majority in the legislature.
The New Democrats are surging ahead in the June 7 provincial election, a new poll suggests.
A Forum Research survey found Andrea Horwath’s NDP at 47 per cent compared to 33 per cent for the Progressive Conservatives led by Doug Ford.
Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne’s party, which has been in power since 2003, were at 14 per cent while the Greens led by Mike Schreiner were at 4 per cent.
“We’ve seen the NDP gaining momentum since our poll on the first day of the campaign,” Forum president Lorne Bozinoff said Thursday.
“But their momentum has now propelled them into a position to secure a majority government, sapping support from both the Liberals and the Conservatives,” said Bozinoff, noting Ford “is having a terrible campaign.”
“He’s had a fumble every day,” he said, referring to the Tory leader’s problems with candidate nominations.
“But there’s still two weeks to go so things can change.”
Using interactive voice response calls, Forum contacted 906 people across Ontario on Wednesday with the results considered accurate to within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
In the company’s previous poll, released May 9, the Tories led with 40 per cent, followed by the NDP at 33 per cent, the Liberals at 22 per cent, and the Greens at 4 per cent.
While not commenting specifically on the latest survey, Horwath said Thursday that she and her team can feel the momentum.
“We have people really coming in droves to our candidates’ campaign offices. It’s one of the things that’s been creating so much energy around our campaign. …they’ve had more volunteers than they’ve had in memorable history,” she said in Liberal-held Regent Park.
“They’re getting all kinds of donations, the signs are flying out the doors to be put on people’s lawns. We’re pretty excited about the grassroots capacity that’s growing and that continues to grow.”
Later, in Tory-held Whitby, Horwath said “there’s a sense of energy and excitement people are feeling.”
The NDP leader suggested that in contrast to Ford, she is offering a positive alternative to Wynne’s Liberals.
“Giving people something to vote for instead of just something to vote against,” she said.
In terms of personal approval, Horwath was at 43 per cent approval, 26 per cent disapproval, and 31 per cent didn’t know.
Ford was at 32 per cent approval, 51 per cent disapproval, and 17 per cent didn’t know.
Wynne was at 19 per cent approval, 69 per cent disapproval, and 11 per cent didn’t know.
Other publicly available polls are showing a similar NDP surge. Earlier this week, a Pollara survey of 870 people found the New Democrats at 38 per cent, the Tories at 37 per cent, the Liberals at 18 per cent, and the Greens at 5 per cent.