A poll, commissioned by the News Journal and The University of Delaware Center for Political Communication, shows no clear favorite in the race for Wilmington mayor.
Public Policy Polling, which has done work in other races in Delaware over the years, conducted the survey under funding from a foundation tied to the News Journal.
City Council member Kevin Kelly topped the eight-person field with 16 percent of the vote, with Riverfront Development chief Michael Purzycki and incumbent Mayor Dennis Williams close behind.
The striking figure was the 21 percent who have not yet made up their mind as the September Democratic primary approaches.
Winning the primary is believed to be tantamount to winning the election in the heavily Democratic city.
The poll does show that Williams’ faces a tough battle to retain his post, despite competing in a large field that by many accounts worked to his advantage. Wilmington also has a large number of city employees for a municipality of its size, with that voting bloc possibly tilting toward the incumbent.
Williams has been hobbled by the city’s high homicide rate, a controversial police-involved shooting, rocky relations with the City Council, an unwillingness to appear at candidate debates and publicity over a large security detail that seemed out of place in a city of 71,000.
Perhaps Williams’ most controversial move was refusing to take state funding for police support by withholding information on police staffing and not carrying out some of the recommendations of a state-appointed task force that studied police work and the homicide issue.
Williams has taken credit for a wave of investment in the city, with much of that activity taking place on the riverfront and downtown. Purzycki has pointed to similar efforts citing his work as the long-time chief of the state-owned Riverfront Development Corp.
The poll also broke down the race along racial lines with Kelly seeing the most crossover support. Williams, an African-American, appeared to have a slightly lower percentage of black support than Kelley, based on the polling figures.
Williams is a former legislator and police officer.
Kelley, meanwhile, has waged an energetic campaign that has focused on visits with residents.
Many in the business community have supported Purzycki, who is well known within the state’s business and political establishment. Statewide officeholders have, for the most part, stayed away from commenting on the race or endorsing candidates.
The automated poll of 284 persons used landline phones, a method that has generated some controversy, due to the use of cellphones by many people. The margin of error was 5.8 percent.
