Momentum: O'Brien - "A vote for Bob is a vote for Alex"

With less than a week to go in the Ottawa municipal race, Larry O'Brien continues to close the margin between he and frontrunner Alex Munter, with Bob Chiarelli's support dropping like a rock. It's been circling the drain for some time for Chiarelli and now it looks as though the bottom is falling out.

Recent Media:

Poll shows Chiarelli support down to 17 per cent

Mr. Munter has enjoyed support in the 40-per-cent range for much of the past month, but the mayor’s losses and a strong performance by the O’Brien camp appear to be catching up with him.

Challenger changes gears

Leading mayoral candidate Alex Munter no longer views Mayor Bob Chiarelli as his main threat and is focusing his homestretch campaign on discrediting hi-tech millionaire Larry O'Brien.

O'Brien on the offensive

O'Brien: "The candidate to my left must think I'm getting close to him, he's coming at me with both barrels."

This is a winnable race for O'Brien and, with as much of his own momentum, the parked Chiarelli vote is likely to ride that momentum as Munter has not only saturated his take of former Chiarelli support, he has also peaked in public opinion and the Chiarelli core that doesn't support Munter know that "a vote for Bob is a vote for Alex".

Expect Chiarelli's hemorhaging to continue with the flow of support moving to O'Brien.