BATON ROUGE — A political poll conducted a week ahead of the early voting period showed the race for East Baton Rouge mayor-president has tightened considerably between the two Democrats in the contest.

Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and challenger Ted James were essentially tied in polling done Oct. 12-13. James held a 29-28 advantage, but the margin was well within the poll's 3.8 percent margin of error. Republican Sid Edwards received support from 22 percent of respondents.

Six weeks earlier, Broome held a 29-23-23 edge over her top two challengers. 

Both polls were conducted by JMC Analytics and Polling. The most recent poll was conducted for Future PAC, the political action committee for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. The poll in August was done for BRAC as it selected participants for a forum it sponsored with WBRZ.

The Oct. 12-13 poll included hypothetical runoff results that showed James defeating both Broome and Edwards in runoffs, and Broome defeating Edwards in a runoff. No runoff scenario showed Edwards winning.

JMC said its recent sample size included 670 respondents, 67 percent of whom were contacted via text and 33 percent contacted on cell phones or landlines. Also, 53 percent of respondents were white, 47 percent were Democrats and 31 percent were Republicans.

Early voting started last Friday and ends Oct. 29. Election Day is Nov. 5.