Abraham poll has her in mayoral lead

Former District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham has a significant lead in the race for Philadelphia's next mayor and is far better perceived then her opposition, both real and potential.

That according to a poll conducted by her campaign earlier this month and released Monday.

As telling, perhaps, is that poll shows Abraham trailing undecided, which is how 36 percent of the 600 voters surveyed cast themselves.

Against flesh-and-blood opponents, Abraham fared better. Asked who they would vote for if "the race were held today," 31 percent chose Abraham, 12 percent City Council President Darrell L. Clarke, 9 percent state Sen. Anthony H. Williams, 5 percent T. Milton Street, 3 percent Nelson Diaz, 2 percent each for Terry Gillen and Ken Trujillo.

Of those, only Abraham, Williams, Gillen and Trujillo have announced their candidacies.

The poll gives Abraham high marks in terms of favorability and how she is perceived as having performed as District Attorney.

Abraham was rated favorable by 58 percent and unfavorable by 17 percent. Clarke's split was 41 percent favorable versus 13 percent unfavorable. Williams was 40 percent favorable versus 11 unfavorable. Street had the highest unfavorable rating — 50 percent — which, given his stint in a federal prison for tax evasion, is not as bad as one might have expected.

As for job performance, Abraham was rated excellent/good by 61 percent and fair/poor by 28 percent. Only 35 percent thought Clarke was doing excellent/good as city council president. Thirty-eight percent rated his performance as fair/poor. Williams had similar numbers — 35 percent excellent/good and 35 percent fair/poor.

The poll was conducted by the Mellman Group, a Washington-based research group.

Click here for Philly.com's politics page.