Burgess leads in Charlotte

While the race for Mayor of Charlotte may be too close to call the favorites for at least three of the four at large City Council seats appear pretty clear, with two incumbents and a former Councilman leading the way:

Susan Burgess 17
Patrick Cannon 15
Edwin Peacock 13
Tariq Scott Bokhari 9
David Howard 5
Matthew Ridenhour 5
Jaye Rao 5
Darrin Rankin 3
Undecided 28

There are still a lot of people undecided, particularly about who will get their third and fourth votes. There are also a lot of folks who say they will vote for only one or two candidates but could still decide to vote for a full or fuller slate before next Tuesday.

32% of respondents named Burgess as their first choice followed by Cannon and Peacock at 17% and Bokhari at 13%. No other candidate exceeded 4% for first choice.

Cannon led the way as second choice with 15% followed by Peacock at 10%, Burgess at 8%, and Bokhari at 7%. Because of the number of undecideds and people planning to vote for only one or two candidates, no one did better than 6% for third choice or 4% for fourth choice.

It will probably be a battle between Bokhari and Howard for the fourth slot. Supporters of Burgess and Cannon may see in the final six days of the campaign that a third vote for Howard poses no threat to the likelihood of the top two Democratic candidates winning.

Burgess is the top choice of most demographic groups including liberals, moderates, men, women, Democrats, independents, whites, African Americans, and senior citizens. Peacock is the first choice for conservatives and Republicans, and Cannon leads among young voters.

The level of undecideds makes this race pretty volatile but it makes sense that in an race that hasn't caught a lot of people's attention the three most well known candidates would lead the way. That leaves the rest of the field fighting over that fourth spot.

Full results here