Article content continued

All four of the other leadership hopefuls said they would rescind his carbon levy pledge.

Throughout the weekend, we really saw a desperate Doug Ford

Ford pointed to a comment by Elliott that “maybe in the future” Ontario would have such a tax as evidence she was wavering on the key issue.

“Christine might think I’m being mean,” he said in the Monday email. “I’m just making sure folks know before they vote. This is the Christine they’re going to get.”

Elliott insisted she has no intention of imposing a carbon tax, and that the quote only referred to the possibility of a future government doing so.

One source in the former Brown campaign team told the National Post that 70 to 80 per cent of the organizers and candidates who had backed him would go to Elliott, most of the rest to Ford, but that no promises were made.

The only publicly released poll of Conservative members — carried out last month by Mainstreet Research — showed Ford with a slight lead over Elliott, lawyer Caroline Mulroney well back in third and self-described social-conservative Tanya Granic Allen fourth.

Mainstreet now finds Elliott slightly ahead in her percentage of the electoral votes allocated equally to each riding, Ford just behind, Mulroney 15 percentage points back of him, and Granic Allen last, CEO Quito Maggi said Monday.

Results of the online voting are slated to be announced Saturday.

Assuming Granic Allen drops off after the first ballot, the numbers suggest Ford would surge ahead on the second after picking up most of her votes, before succumbing on the final ballot when Elliott gains Mulroney’s supporters, said Maggi.

But the front-runners are so close, the outcome is anyone’s guess, he said.

“I would almost not even rule out a flat tie,” said Maggi. “We’re really going to see some drama on the 10th.”

• Email: tblackwell@nationalpost.com | Twitter: tomblackwellNP