The latest poll on the support of presidential candidates shows Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, professor of history at the University of Iceland, with a commanding lead. The polling firm MMR found that 59.2% of voters say they would vote for Guðni if elections were held today, while only 25.3% would vote for the re-election of sitting president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.
The poll was released to the media and the public only moments before Ólafur Ragnar announced he was reversing his decision to run for re-election.
The poll is a testament to the extremely fluid situation in the presidential race. The previous MMR poll, released on April 27, had shown Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson with a commanding lead and 52.6% support. His closest challenger in that poll, environmental activist and author Andri Snær Magnason had 29.4% of the vote. The support of Guðni Th. Jóhannesson was not measured in the April 27 poll, as he had not yet announced his candidacy.
With Guðni Th. in the race the support for Ólafur Ragnar has crashed, dropping by more than half. Andri Snær has seen an even more dramatic drop, losing 20.6 percentage points. Now only 8.8% say they would vote for Andri Snær.
Read more: Analysis: Presidential race heats up as former PM enters the race, a bomb thrown into the race
The poll, which was conducted during May 6-9 did not capture the full effect of the entry of former Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson into the race. Davíð announced his candidacy on May 8, at which time his name was added into the mix. According to MMR 27% of the respondents were asked whether they would vote for Davíð. The poll showed Davíð enjoying the support of only 3.1% of voters.
The poll showed that the support of Ólafur Ragnar came primarily from the voters of the center-right Progress party and the conservative Independence party who form the ruling coalition. The voters of Guðni are from across the political spectrum, although he enjoys significantly more support from the likely voters of the centrist and left wing opposition parties. Andri Snær, on the other hand, has a far narrower political appeal, as the poll found he enjoyed zero support from the supporters of the ruling coalition.
The latest poll on the support of presidential candidates shows Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, professor of history at the University of Iceland, with a commanding lead. The polling firm MMR found that 59.2% of voters say they would vote for Guðni if elections were held today, while only 25.3% would vote for the re-election of sitting president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.
The poll was released to the media and the public only moments before Ólafur Ragnar announced he was reversing his decision to run for re-election.
The poll is a testament to the extremely fluid situation in the presidential race. The previous MMR poll, released on April 27, had shown Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson with a commanding lead and 52.6% support. His closest challenger in that poll, environmental activist and author Andri Snær Magnason had 29.4% of the vote. The support of Guðni Th. Jóhannesson was not measured in the April 27 poll, as he had not yet announced his candidacy.
With Guðni Th. in the race the support for Ólafur Ragnar has crashed, dropping by more than half. Andri Snær has seen an even more dramatic drop, losing 20.6 percentage points. Now only 8.8% say they would vote for Andri Snær.
Read more: Analysis: Presidential race heats up as former PM enters the race, a bomb thrown into the race
The poll, which was conducted during May 6-9 did not capture the full effect of the entry of former Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson into the race. Davíð announced his candidacy on May 8, at which time his name was added into the mix. According to MMR 27% of the respondents were asked whether they would vote for Davíð. The poll showed Davíð enjoying the support of only 3.1% of voters.
The poll showed that the support of Ólafur Ragnar came primarily from the voters of the center-right Progress party and the conservative Independence party who form the ruling coalition. The voters of Guðni are from across the political spectrum, although he enjoys significantly more support from the likely voters of the centrist and left wing opposition parties. Andri Snær, on the other hand, has a far narrower political appeal, as the poll found he enjoyed zero support from the supporters of the ruling coalition.
