Mayor Tory’s once substantial lead on possible mayoral candidate Doug Ford has slipped away and the duo are now in a statistical tie with the election still a year-and-a-half away, a new poll has found.

The Forum Research poll of 1,035 residents found that 40 per cent of those who are decided or leaning would support Tory in 2018 while 38 per cent would support Ford. A further 22 per cent said they would vote for someone else entirely.

Tory tended to perform the best in Scarborough (45 per cent support) and North York (40 per cent support) while Ford was more popular in Etobicoke (46 per cent). Ford also outperformed Tory in East York (38 per cent to 34 per cent), where a greater proportion of voters said they would support someone else.

“Doug Ford and John Tory are virtually tied, which is remarkable given that just six months ago John Tory led Ford by almost thirty-percent," Forum Research President Lorne Bozinoff said in a press release." Perhaps what makes this result all the more concerning for the mayor is that support is galvanizing against him for a candidate that hasn’t even declared yet."

Though an election will not be held until October, 2018, the results suggest a tightening of the still-hypothetical race.

Tory’s lead over Ford was as high as 19 per cent in January but dropped to 16 points in March and 11 points in April.

The two-point lead Tory now enjoys is within the poll’s margin of error, which is three percent.

For his part, Ford has said that he is considering running for mayor or under the Progressive Conservative party banner provincially.