The pursuit for the Nairobi Governor seat will be a tight race between incumbent Evans Kidero and Senator Mike Sonko, a poll has indicated.
The findings placed support for Kidero and Sonko at 28 per cent and noted that the latter is a strong contender for both the Governor and Senator posts.
Support for female aspirants was described as low in the poll in which former Devolution CS Anne Waiguru scored seven per cent and Margaret Wanjiru four per cent.
TNA chairman Johnson Sakaja and politician Dennis Waweru scored one per cent support each while 24 four per cent residents were undecided.
“This survey was conducted at a point when there was speculation that Waiguru and Sakaja would run for governor,” noted TIFA research director Maggie Ireri. Ireri is a former Ipsos CEO.
The two declared their interest in the race on Monday.
The poll indicated 41 per cent Nairobians did not know who to elect senator while 36 per cent were undecided on the woman representative post, being held by Rachel Shebesh.
“Despite speculation that Sonko will vie for the top seat in the city, he is still considered ideal for the senatorial seat by 34 per cent of Nairobians,” Ireri said.
“I would imagine that the big question in his supporters’ minds is which seat he will contest for.”
Elizabeth Ongoro and Beth Mugo were mentioned among candidates to watch out for in the contest for woman representative, with respective scores of eight and five per cent.
Esther Passaris was termed the preferred candidate at 29 per cent while Shebesh followed at 26 per cent. Neither Passaris nor Shebesh have declared intentions to vie for the seat.
The study was conducted within Nairobi between January 30 and February 3 through face to face interviews.
Ireri said the results are the “baseline against which the candidates’ future campaign efforts can be evaluated”.
