City Council Election: Weekend Poll Results

OPINION & ANALYSIS

This weekend The Apopka Voice boldly ventured where no Apopka news source has gone before: An online poll to gauge current public opinion regarding the Apopka City Council Elections.

The poll was not "scientific" and while the results should not be considered statistically significant they are, nonetheless, interesting.

Commissioner Sam Ruth and Candidate Kyle Becker received the most votes for Seat #3 and Seat #4, respectively.

Ruth received 225 votes (48%) in the Seat #3 contest, followed by Doug Bankson with 190 votes (40%) and Alice Nolan with 39 votes (8%). In Seat #4 Becker received 213 votes (48%). Arrowsmith received 182 votes (42%), followed by Young Kim with 13 votes (3%).

There were also 18 (4%), undecided votes in Seat #3, and 31 (7%) undecided votes in Seat #4.

The results can be viewed here.

What did we learn from the poll?

The poll indicates that Ruth and Bankson both have large followings. The election will likely come down to turning-out their supporters in mass to win. Either candidate seems to have the potential to do that. Alice Nolan placed well behind Ruth and Bankson, and probably has an uphill battle to win this election.

The poll indicated that Arrowsmith and Becker also have large followings. Similarly their race will be about getting those followers to vote in the election as well. Becker had perhaps the most surprising performance of the weekend. He seems to have overcome his newcomer status and beat a 39-year incumbent in a poll. Kim will struggle to catch these two candidates.

An unscientific online poll conducted on the same weekend as The Old Florida Outdoor Festival is not meant to persuade voters. It is a snapshot of what approximately 500 voters are thinking at this moment in time approximately one month before an election.

Polls do not change minds.

Debates and forums can change minds. The candidates' answers to questions asked can change minds. There are plenty of fundamentals that go into a political campaign designed to get a candidate's message to the voters. It will be these fundamentals that will decide the 2016 Apopka City Commission elections, not a single online poll.