Support for Chattanooga’s top mayoral candidates, according to recent polls, comes from voters of different demographic backgrounds with varying top priorities.
According to a pair of recent surveys of likely Chattanooga voters conducted this week by Spry Strategies, a Knoxville-based polling outfit hired by local conservative group Hamilton Flourishing, businessman Tim Kelly, former River City President Kim White and former city attorney Wade Hinton lead the 15 candidates vying to be mayor in the March 2 election.
The most recent poll of 550 likely voters showed Kelly leading with 27.9%, followed by White at 15.2% and Hinton at 12.2%. But which groups have the strongest turnout could define who wins or, more likely, who winds up in a runoff election if no candidate gets over 50% of the vote.
Kelly’s lead comes from several demographic groups, as he is the most popular candidate among male (29%), female (27%), Republican (34%), Democrat (22.3%), independent (31.1%) and white (33.9%) respondents.
“I am grateful that Chattanoogans trust my ability to provide steady leadership on these critical concerns. We are humbled by more than 130 endorsements from leaders all over the community and our broad coalition of support,” Kelly said in a written statement Friday. “My 100-day plan addresses the difficult issues and provides a basis for voters to hold my administration accountable. I look forward to supporting small businesses, investing in our neighborhoods and ensuring our children get a great education no matter their ZIP code.