---
title: "Sutcliffe leads Leiper by 18 points in Nanos poll with 17 days to go"
description: "A new Nanos Research poll conducted for CTV News Ottawa shows Mark Sutcliffe with 49 per cent support among decided voters, compared to 31 per cent for Jeff Leiper."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/ottawa-2026/news/sutcliffe-poll-lead-2026-10-09"
last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:05:50.181Z"
---

Incumbent mayor [Mark Sutcliffe](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/mark-sutcliffe) holds 49 per cent support among decided voters in Ottawa's mayoral race, 18 points ahead of [Jeff Leiper](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/jeff-leiper) at 31 per cent, according to a Nanos Research poll conducted for CTV News Ottawa and published Friday.

Nanos Research surveyed 762 randomly selected Ottawa residents between Oct. 4 and Oct. 8, using telephone and online interviews. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

[Neil Saravanamuttoo](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/neil-saravanamuttoo) has 12 per cent of decided voters and [Alex Lawson](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/alex-lawson) has 7 per cent, according to CTV News Ottawa. One per cent of decided voters said they would choose another candidate.

Nanos Research Chief Data Scientist Nik Nanos told CTV News that 23 per cent of Ottawa voters remain undecided, meaning, as he put it, "nearly one in four voters are still up for grabs."

## Leiper leads downtown, Sutcliffe leads elsewhere

The poll breaks down support by area of the city. In downtown Ottawa, the Nanos survey shows Leiper with 43 per cent of decided voters, compared to 31 per cent for Sutcliffe, 20 per cent for Saravanamuttoo and 7 per cent for Lawson.

Sutcliffe leads in every other part of the city. In west Ottawa, the Nanos survey shows 54 per cent of decided voters choosing Sutcliffe, compared to 27 per cent for Leiper. In east Ottawa, Sutcliffe has 56 per cent of decided voters compared to 29 per cent for Leiper. In rural Ottawa, Sutcliffe has 54 per cent compared to 26 per cent for Leiper.

## Younger voters lean toward Leiper

Among voters aged 18 to 34, the poll shows Leiper leading with 51 per cent of decided voters, compared to 30 per cent for Sutcliffe. For voters aged 35 to 54, Sutcliffe leads with 54 per cent compared to 25 per cent for Leiper. Among voters over 55, Sutcliffe has 57 per cent of decided voters compared to 22 per cent for Leiper.

## Voting dates

Ottawa's advance voting day is Friday, Oct. 16. The main election day is Monday, Oct. 26. All 14 candidates running for mayor are listed at [/on/ottawa-2026/candidates#mayor](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates#mayor). CTV News reports that Sutcliffe, Leiper, Saravanamuttoo and Lawson will take part in a CTV News Ottawa debate on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 10 a.m.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/on/ottawa-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.