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Thirty-eight per cent of respondents said they disapprove of the mayor’s leadership, while four per cent say they are not sure. By contrast, 51 per cent of Calgarians approve of council’s performance, while 41 per cent disapprove and nine per cent are not sure.

In one of the last publicly released polls on this matter — by Calgary-based ThinkHQ, in the spring of 2014 — Nenshi’s approval was at 71 per cent and council’s was at 60 per cent.

The narrower gap between Nenshi and his council is more typical in Canadian cities, Maggi said.

It’s hard to pinpoint any one issue that has eroded Nenshi’s support, said Paul Fairie, a University of Calgary political scientist who studies voter behaviour.

Time may be the biggest factor, he said. More time gives residents more evidence by which to judge the mayor.

“When you’re new or when you’re in a crisis, support will be high, whereas every year you have a chance to tick off two or three per cent more people,” Fairie said.

Nenshi, who routinely wears purple ties and shoelaces as a nod to his campaign colour, hasn’t yet said whether he’s going to run for a third term in 2017, or if he wants to leave what he’s called his dream job. He won the 2013 mayoral race with 73.6 per cent of the vote, compared to 39.6 per cent in 2010, his first come-from-behind win.

Calgarians haven’t turfed a sitting mayor since 1980 — though that said, they hadn’t voted against the Alberta Tories in more than four decades.