Nonpartisan poll shows statistical tie in Philadelphia mayor race
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The first nonpartisan poll of the 2023 Philadelphia mayor's race shows a statistical tie among the Democratic candidates. The poll was released Friday by the nonprofit Committee of Seventy, a nonprofit that advocates for better elections.
The poll found a statistical tie between five Democratic candidates to be the city's 100th mayor.
It's been difficult to determine a frontrunner in the Democratic mayoral primary, so the Committee of Seventy poll is the first real look at what Philadelphia voters are thinking, and here is what the nonprofit has found.
According to the numbers, it's pretty much a dead heat atop and a tight race overall.
Rebecca Rhynhart leads the pack with 18%, with Cherelle Parker second at 17% and Helen Gym at 15%. Allan Domb came in at 14% with Jeff Brown at 11%.
The Committee of Seventy noted it's important to point out that 20% of polled voters remain undecided with less than three weeks until the May 16 primary.
Former Philadelphia City Council member David Oh is the Republican candidate.
The election could be decided with as little as 2,000 votes.
The major surprise to Lauren Cristilla, the interim president of the Committee of Seventy, is that no one has pulled away so far.
"I was genuinely surprised it was quite as tight as it is," Cristilla said.
The top 5 are closely aligned, with the top four being tightly packed.
The numbers show candidates are finding that Parker is leading with Black and Latino voters by more than two times every other candidate.
Rhynhart and Gym are both polling strongly with White voters.
Rhynhart's base appears to be in Center City.
But the 20% undecided is the number looming largest.
"Nobody's taking their foot off the gas pedal," Cristilla said. "So I'm sure you'll see lots of fundraising events and messaging coming out of this poll."
But what will it take to sway those undecided voters?
The Committee of Seventy poll didn't report the top issues for voters, so we went to the street and asked them ourselves.
"The gun violence, because too many people too many lives are being lost -- both innocent and just we need to do something with the violence here," Dr. Priscilla Johnson, an undecided voter, said.
"I am a teacher myself," Pamela Oppenheimer said, "so that's really important to me, that we're pouring back into the community and the schools. I'm also a music teacher so someone that's embracing our arts programs and culture here in the city."
With a race as close as this one, Cristilla couldn't stress enough how important turnout is going to be.
Six of the Democratic candidates recently participated in a Democratic Mayoral Candidates Forum in collaboration with CBS Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists and the Every Voice, Every Vote Project
The last day to register to vote before the primary is Monday.
