Revelations of an impaired driving conviction in Florida apparently didn’t hurt Rob Ford. A new poll indicates the controversial candidate is the front-runner in the mayor’s race.

The poll of 400 Torontonians, which was conducted by Ipsos Reid over the weekend, shows 32 per cent of voters support Ford. George Smitherman, the one-time front-runner, had 21 per cent support among those polled. Sarah Thomson followed with 10 per cent, Joe Pantalone had 9 per cent, Rocco Rossi trailed at 7 per cent, with 21 per cent undecided.

The results suggest large numbers of Torontonians are looking past the 1999 Florida charge for which Ford paid a $664.75 fine. He also eventually worked 50 hours of community service with the football team he was already coaching. An additional charge of possession of marijuana was later dismissed.

The poll also suggests plenty of Torontonians are okay with the candidate’s controversial views about making Toronto a “refugee-free” zone.

But a spokesman for Smitherman downplayed the results. “Typically, when candidates are involved in something controversial it takes five to seven days for reaction to be felt,” said Stefan Baranski. “I’m not sure we’ve seen the impacts of (Ford’s) indiscretions reflected in the polls yet.”

The poll was commissioned by the National Post, Global TV and Newstalk 1010, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Meanwhile, with the poll showing Rossi struggling to crack double digits, campaign manager Sachin Aggarwal has been removed. Bernie Morton has been named as replacement. Aggarwal, according to a provincial Liberal source, had been encouraging Rossi to withdraw.

With files from Robyn Doolittle