ELECTION: McCallum leads polls in Surrey mayor electoral race

SURREY - Doug McCallum is in the lead in the hotly-contested race for mayor of Surrey, according to a new poll.

The survey from Insights West puts the Safe Surrey Coalition candidate at 40 per cent support, giving him an edge over Surrey First’s Linda Hepner (32 per cent) and Barinder Rasode (21 per cent).

Crime continues to be a major concern for many voters in Surrey. Of those surveyed, 55 per cent said it was the most important issue in this election, marking a 10 per cent jump since an Insights West poll in July. Just 14 per cent said transportation is more important, while nine per cent chose economic development as their key concern and six per cent identified poverty.

Even though Surrey voters are choosing a replacement for outgoing mayor Dianne Watts, they aren’t highly engaged in this election campaign. Just nine per cent of respondents said they’re watching the race “very closely” and about half said they’re following it “not too closely” or “not closely at all.”

“There are many residents of Surrey who have not been immersed in the mayoral campaign,” Insights West pollster Mario Canseco said in a press release.

“The candidates need to establish a meaningful connection with the high number of residents who plan to vote, but have not settled on anyone yet.”

The survey was conducted online from Oct. 3 to Oct. 6 among 520 Surrey residents. The results assume a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.