SurveyUSA poll shows Longwell leading Williams in mayoral race

Jeff Longwell leads Sam Williams in the race for Wichita mayor, according to a poll conducted for KSN-TV by SurveyUSA.

The survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points, found that 42 percent of respondents would vote for Longwell, 35 percent would vote for Williams, and 22 percent were undecided.

Williams, a retired ad executive and former chairman of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, polled higher on the issue of job development, at 43 percent compared with 23 percent for Longwell, a small-business owner and City Council member.

Longwell polled higher on taking care of infrastructure, with 54 percent compared with 27 percent for Williams.

The news outlet released the poll Tuesday along with a second poll on the Wichita ballot proposal to lower the penalty for first-time possession of marijuana.

Forty-five percent percent of respondents said they would vote in support of the initiative, 39 percent said they would vote against it, and 16 percent said they had not made up their minds.

SurveyUSA conducts its polls via automated phone calls. It polled 1,000 Wichita residents between Wednesday and Monday on both landline and cellphone numbers. Of the 1,000 surveyed, 893 were registered to vote in the city and 501 said they were likely to vote.

To see the results of the polls broken down into different demographics, visit the following links:

Wichita mayoral race: http://ksn.com/2015/03/24/ksn-news-poll-results-mar-24th-wichita-mayor/.

Marijuana decriminalization initiative: http://ksn.com/2015/03/24/ksn-news-poll-results-mar-24th-marijuana-initiative/.

This story was originally published March 24, 2015 at 6:50 PM with the headline "SurveyUSA poll shows Longwell leading Williams in mayoral race."