Sun Poll Shows Where Baltimore Mayoral Candidates Stand

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The primary is about a month and a half away and former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and state Senator Catherine Pugh are pulling away from a crowded field of candidates.

Mary Bubala has more on what the poll numbers mean.

With State Senator Catherine Pugh nudging ahead of former Mayor Sheila Dixon in this poll, it's a major surge for Pugh who, just four months ago, was 11 points behind Dixon.

"She has grabbed onto the idea of being the candidate with ideas," said Steve Raabe.

Raabe is president of Opinion Works, which conducted the poll.

"It says the electorate is looking for alternatives and Sheila Dixon is a candidate who people have strong feelings about. Many people really like her but many that really have questions about her," Raabe said.

No one has spent more money campaigning than businessman David Warnock. That's helped him double his poll numbers but he's still far behind.

Clustered together below Warnock are Baltimore City Councilman Nick Mosby, former prosecutor Elizabeth Embry and Baltimore City Councilman Carl Stokes.

Seven other candidates are polling at one percent or below, even prominent Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson.

The poll did find a quarter of Democrats are still undecided.

"I don't know if these undecideds are going to swing the race dramatically but what we do see in this race is the impact of television advertising. I think we have three candidates that have spent some dollars on television and they are the three that have moved in this poll," Raabe said.

This poll was conducted last weekend. It has a margin of error of 4.9%. The primary is April 26.