But Jones said Christensen's "declaring himself out of the Republican Party did not have the impact that some might have thought."

The mayor's race is officially non-partisan — political parties play no formal role in selecting candidates. But party identification is typically a key factor in races in the largely Democratic city. Christensen's party change leaves Buhler as the only Republican among the front-runners.

The new poll asked voters how important political party is to them in the race, and only 27 percent said it played no role. Most — 40 percent — said they were more likely to vote for a Democrat, and 28 percent said they preferred a Republican.

Even so, 41 percent described themselves as somewhat or very conservative, while only 36 percent said they were somewhat or very liberal. Meanwhile, most candidates — Republican, Democrat and independent alike — have struggled to paint themselves as the most progressive candidate, especially socially.

The preference for Democratic candidates apparently has the race's two Democrats — Wilson and Becker — splitting supporters, as 54 percent of Becker's supporters name Wilson as their second choice and 29 percent of Wilson voters like Becker second best.

A full 25 percent of Wilson voters, however, name Christensen as their next favorite, as do 32 percent of Buhler's backers.

Respondents were asked whether they definitely planned to vote for their first choice or whether they simply leaned toward that person, and in that regard Buhler's support seems to be the strongest: 57 percent said they would definitely vote for him. Becker and Wilson had the "definite" support of 44 and 45 percent of their backers, respectively.

The poll also asked respondents, regardless of whom they plan to vote for, what their opinions were of all the candidates. Wilson topped the list of "very" or "somewhat" favorable ratings at 51 percent. Christensen's favorableness was at 46 percent, Buhler's at 41 percent and Becker's at 33 percent.

Buhler was viewed the most unfavorably: 19 percent gave him negative reviews. Christensen's portion of unfavorable impressions was 16 percent, Wilson's 11 percent and Becker's 9 percent.

Of the top tier of candidates, Becker faces the biggest name-recognition hurdle, as 35 percent said they had not heard of him.

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com