UNF poll: Alvin Brown leads Lenny Curry, Bill Bishop but many voters "uncertain"

With early voting in Jacksonville less than a week away, a new poll out Thursday from the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Laboratory finds incumbent Mayor Alvin Brown leading the race with support from 37% of voters.

Lenny Curry holds 25% of the vote, Bill Bishop 11%, and Omega Allen 2%. The rest of those polled — a quarter of the electorate — were still undecided, just four days before ballots begin to be cast.

“Such high levels of uncertainty provide opportunities for each of the candidates to increase their vote share,” reads a news release from the polling operation, run by political science professor Mike Binder.

Brown’s job approval rating is 55%. Of the 546 likely voters polled, 44% thought Brown is a strong leader and 41% did not, with 15% unsure or unwilling to answer.

Curry was rated a strong leader by 23%, but 62% said they don’t know. When respondents were asked to place Brown, Curry, and Bishop on a 5-point ideological spectrum, the results further highlight the awareness gap between the incumbent and the challengers, according to Binder.

Forty-three percent of respondents classified Brown as liberal, while only 14 percent didn’t know or refused to place him on the 5-point scale.

On the other hand, 38% of respondents considered Curry conservative, but 49% of likely voters were unable or unwilling to place him on the ideological scale.

Bishop was considered a moderate by 13% of voters, while 66% were unsure.

As to the local sheriff’s race, the UNF poll shows Ken Jefferson is leading the pack with 24%; Mike Williams, 16%; Jimmy Holderfield, 10%; Jay Farhat, 7%; Tony Cummings, 4%; Rob Schoonover, 4%; Lonnie McDonald, 2%; and 34% didn’t know or refused to answer.

“With so many undecided, this race is completely up in the air,” Binder said.

The Public Opinion Research Laboratory, through the use of a 27-station telephone-polling laboratory at UNF, conducted the survey.