Poll shows Fish with commanding lead in council poll

Still many undecided voters in city’s five-candidate race

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, May 14, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (11 Reader comments)

Portland lawyer Nick Fish is poised to win his City Council race outright in the May 20 primary election, according to a poll conducted in the race for the Portland Tribune and FOX News 12.

In the poll, Fish leads the five-candidate field with 35 percent of the vote. His closest opponent, former City Hall staffer Jim Middaugh, lags well behind with 10 percent, followed by management consultant Harold Williams Two with six percent.

But with 46 percent of the voters undecided, the race is far from over.

“If Fish picks up one-third of the undecided votes, he will win it in the primary. But there’s no guarantee that will happen,” said Tim Hibbitts, a founding partner of Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall Inc., the Portland-based company that provided the poll.

Fish said he is encouraged by his 25-point lead, however.

“I’m humbled by these numbers. They seem to show the voters are picking up on our message of opening up City Hall to everyone. We’re planning on finishing the campaign strong and I hope to win it in the primary,” he said

Fish has come close to winning a council seat in a primary election before, however, only to lose the general election. He finished the 2004 primary ahead of Sam Adams by 48 percent to 37 percent, but lost to Adams in the general election by 51 percent to 48 percent.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit