With just over two and a half months before residents cast their ballots in the municipal election, a new poll finds the race to be the mayor of Mississauga is a dead heat between two familiar foes.
The Liaison Strategies poll conducted earlier this week finds incumbent Mayor Carolyn Parrish and former mayor Bonnie Crombie are tied with 36 per cent support among decided and leaning voters.
Among all voters, Parrish and Crombie are tied with 26 per cent support while another 26 per cent remain undecided.
“The more important number may be undecided,” said David Valentin, Principal at Liaison Strategies. “That is a very large movable electorate in a municipal race and Undecided, if it were a candidate, would be tied with Crombie and Parrish.”
While the poll finds that councillor’s Dipika Damerla and Alvin Tedjo trail the two front-runners by double-digits, Valentin says the news is actually encouraging for Damerla, who has more than doubled her support since the last poll conducted in October.
“Compared with our October Mississauga poll, the race has moved in an important way,” explained Valentin. “Then, Crombie led Parrish 38 per cent to 33 per cent, Tedjo was at 12 per cent, and Damerla was at 7 per cent. So the story is not simply that the statistical tie between Crombie and Parrish continues. The bigger change is that Damerla has become a more serious presence on the ballot, moving from single digits in October to nearly one-in-five decided and leaning voters now.”
Valentin adds that the poll also shows that this is a “negative endorsement environment” when it comes to any boost a candidate might get from Queen’s Park. Only 15 per cent of those surveyed said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate that has the support of Premier Doug Ford.
Vulnerable incumbent
One issue that could negatively affect Parrish is 46 per cent of those surveyed say the city is moving in the wrong direction, with 42 per cent disapproving of her job as mayor.
“That gives any challenger room to argue that the city needs a change,” says Valentin.
“Parrish’s approval also points to a vulnerable incumbent. Her approval is down seven points, her disapproval is up two points, and her net approval has moved from plus five to minus four.”
The poll also finds that affordability is now the top concern among Mississauga voters. Last October, crime was the top issue among voters at 29 per cent, but in this latest survey, only 13 per cent list crime as their biggest worry behind affordability (19 per cent), taxes (17 per cent), and housing (16 per cent).
“Overall, this is a race with a vulnerable incumbent, a familiar former mayor, and a lot of undecided voters. Parrish is not out of contention, but the numbers show she has work to do,” says Valentin.
Voters are set to go to the polls on October 26.
Liaison surveyed a random sample of 1,000 Mississauga residents from August 11 to August 12, 2026, using Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) technology. The resulting data was weighted to match targets based on the 2021 Census. For the total sample, the margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
With just over two and a half months before residents cast their ballots in the municipal election, a new poll finds the race to be the mayor of Mississauga is a dead heat between two familiar foes. The Liaison Strategies poll conducted earlier this week finds incumbent Mayor Carolyn Parrish and former mayor Bonnie Crombie Local
With just over two and a half months before residents cast their ballots in the municipal election, a new poll finds the race to be the mayor of Mississauga is a dead heat between two familiar foes.
The Liaison Strategies poll conducted earlier this week finds incumbent Mayor Carolyn Parrish and former mayor Bonnie Crombie are tied with 36 per cent support among decided and leaning voters.
Among all voters, Parrish and Crombie are tied with 26 per cent support while another 26 per cent remain undecided.
“The more important number may be undecided,” said David Valentin, Principal at Liaison Strategies. “That is a very large movable electorate in a municipal race and Undecided, if it were a candidate, would be tied with Crombie and Parrish.”
While the poll finds that councillor’s Dipika Damerla and Alvin Tedjo trail the two front-runners by double-digits, Valentin says the news is actually encouraging for Damerla, who has more than doubled her support since the last poll conducted in October.
“Compared with our October Mississauga poll, the race has moved in an important way,” explained Valentin. “Then, Crombie led Parrish 38 per cent to 33 per cent, Tedjo was at 12 per cent, and Damerla was at 7 per cent. So the story is not simply that the statistical tie between Crombie and Parrish continues. The bigger change is that Damerla has become a more serious presence on the ballot, moving from single digits in October to nearly one-in-five decided and leaning voters now.”
Valentin adds that the poll also shows that this is a “negative endorsement environment” when it comes to any boost a candidate might get from Queen’s Park. Only 15 per cent of those surveyed said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate that has the support of Premier Doug Ford.
Vulnerable incumbent
One issue that could negatively affect Parrish is 46 per cent of those surveyed say the city is moving in the wrong direction, with 42 per cent disapproving of her job as mayor.
“That gives any challenger room to argue that the city needs a change,” says Valentin.
“Parrish’s approval also points to a vulnerable incumbent. Her approval is down seven points, her disapproval is up two points, and her net approval has moved from plus five to minus four.”
The poll also finds that affordability is now the top concern among Mississauga voters. Last October, crime was the top issue among voters at 29 per cent, but in this latest survey, only 13 per cent list crime as their biggest worry behind affordability (19 per cent), taxes (17 per cent), and housing (16 per cent).
“Overall, this is a race with a vulnerable incumbent, a familiar former mayor, and a lot of undecided voters. Parrish is not out of contention, but the numbers show she has work to do,” says Valentin.
Voters are set to go to the polls on October 26.
Liaison surveyed a random sample of 1,000 Mississauga residents from August 11 to August 12, 2026, using Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) technology. The resulting data was weighted to match targets based on the 2021 Census. For the total sample, the margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.