THE FIRST POLL: VOTERS ARE ANGRY

JULY, 2006: 10 questions for G. Terry Madonna, director of the Keystone Poll at Franklin and Marshall College. Listen to what he has to say about the first poll!

The first poll in the 2007 Mayor's race is out - and voters are fed up with our violent city. Here's our complete coverage:

Daily News: Survey finds residents have had it with violence (8/3/06)

WHYY: Want to see the anger? Visit Kingsessing. (Quicktime video, posted 6/9/06)

Full Keystone Poll results here; in PDF form here; past Keystone Polls here.

A note about the methodology and quoting from this poll.

10 Questions for Dr. G. Terry Madonna about the first poll for the 2007 race for mayor. (posted 8/6/06)

Crime matters most

G. Terry Madonna, director of the Keystone Poll at Franklin & Marshall College, pulls out the most significant findings:

• By a 64-percent to 28-percent margin residents believe the city is moving in the wrong direction, a substantial reversal of opinion since 2003.
  
• More than half (55 percent) of residents believe Philadelphia has gotten worse as place to live, compared to only 23 percent who felt that way almost three years ago.
  
• By a huge margin over any other problem facing the city, 64 percent of residents think crime, drugs, and violence are the most important problems facing Philadelphia.
  
• During the campaign, residents want to hear the candidates address:
  crime (70%)
  education (35%)
  taxes (28%) (all tax categories included)
  unemployment (15%)
  
  (By the way, we've asked the Would-be Mayors what they would do about soaring crime in Philly. Here's what they said.)
  
• So what are voters looking for in the Next Mayor? Experience in government or business (22%), strong leadership (19%), honesty (18%), and ethics (15%) topped the list.
• Residents will definitely be more likely to support a mayoral candidate who has a plan to reduce the amount of corruption in city government, with 94 percent saying they would be much more or somewhat more likely to support a candidate with such a plan.
  
  
  

The Would-be Mayors

Though it's extremely early - only Michael Nutter has officially declared his candidacy - here's the results of the horse race. (See note below.)

Potential voters were asked: If the Democratic primary election for Philadelphia's mayor were being held today, who would you vote for?

Chaka Fattah: 27%	Dwight Evans: 11%	Michael Nutter: 10%
John Dougherty: 9%	Jonathan Saidel: 8%	Bob Brady: 5%
	Do Not Know : 29%
Tom Knox: 1%

From the poll director: Great care should be exercised in over-interpreting the match-up results in a race that is still in its infancy, which measures mostly name recognition, and with the candidates still not well known by the voters.

Of those who have either announced or who are considering announcing for mayor , the candidates are not widely known by city residents, except for Chaka Fattah. However, all the candidates are viewed more favorably than not. ( Bob Brady was not included in this list)