Poll: Cornett Leads Shadid By Wide Margin In OKC Mayor's Race

By Nathan Elliott, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett holds a wide lead over Councilman Ed Shadid in a new poll released Tuesday.

A News 9/Oklahoma Gazette poll found 64 percent of likely voters would choose Cornett, while 19 percent would vote for Shadid, if the election were held today. Retired businessman Joe Sarge Nelson received six percent of likely votes. Phil Hughes, an electrical engineer, received two percent. Meanwhile, nine percent of respondents were still undecided.

"Cornett's support is broad among all major demographical segments, including all three parties, age and political persuasion," said Bill Shapard, CEO of ShapardResearch, who conducted the poll on behalf of News 9 and the Oklahoma Gazette. "Three things are working in Cornett's favor. His term has been favorable to voters -- lacked any real scandal, plus his conservative values reflect that of the electorate, and he has the power of incumbency."

The poll's sample consisted of 980 likely voters who were selected at random using landlines and cell phones. Results were weighted by sex and age, and stratified using a model of previous city mayoral elections. The poll was conducted between February 17 and February 19 and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Oklahoma City's mayoral race is non-partisan, but the survey showed Cornett with a majority among both Republicans and Democrats. Independents also preferred Cornett over Shadid, according to the poll. Shadid received his highest support among Democrats and voters who consider themselves "very liberal." However, Cornett still held a majority among voters of all political beliefs from "very conservative" to "very liberal."

When it comes to age, Cornett seems to get most of his support from voters over the age of 50, but he also tops Shadid in younger demographics. One in three 18 to 34-year-olds prefer Cornett over Shadid, although that age category also had the highest number of undecided voters at 17 percent, according to the poll. Three out of four voters who are 65 and older prefer Cornett.

About 73 percent of women and nearly 65 percent of men support Cornett, according to the survey. When it comes to income, Cornett's highest support came from likely voters who made between $75,000-100,000 a year. Shadid's highest support was among people who made under $25,000, according to the poll.

Oklahoma's City's mayoral election is March 4. Get live election results on News 9, News9.com and the News 9 mobile apps.