Michael Brennan is leading the race to become Portland's next mayor, according to a newly released poll by the Maine People’s Resource Center and Down East magazine.

Portland's new mayor will be selected using a novel system called "instant runoff voting." Voters can rank all candidates and the final victor is chosen through multiple rounds of filtering out the challengers with the most support. Brennan is likely to beat number two challenger Ethan Strimling because he will get the most first and second preference votes according to the analysis of 477 likely Portland voters.

“I’m glad the results show I’m competitive and I’m in the race, but I’m not going to let up or do anything different until next Tuesday,” Brennan told the Portland Press Herald. “I’m going out right now to knock on doors, meet as many voters as possible and broaden our base as much as we can.”

Here is the full list of candidates, with bios provided by Wikipedia:

• Charles Bragdon, Munjoy Hill resident,perennial municipal candidate & taxi-driver. Bragdon has run for office as a Democrat, Green and unenrolled.
• Michael Brennan, Back Cove resident, former State Representative, former State Senator, unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Congress in 2008, Co-Chair of the National Board of Advisors of Casey Family Services, former adjunct faculty member at the University of New England, and currently works as a policy associate at the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine.
• Peter Bryant, Back Cove resident,retired merchant seaman and former U.S. Marine
• Ralph Carmona, Munjoy Hill resident, resident of Portland for under one year, former Bank of America executive and California lobbyist
• Richard Dodge, Riverton resident[6], Republican, commercial real estate broker
• Jill Duson, North Deering resident, retired lawyer, former ceremonial mayor, at-large City Councillor and three time delegate to the Democratic Party National Convention, former Maine lobbyist
• John Eder, West End resident, former state legislator with the Maine Green Independent Party
• Hamza Haadoow, East Deering resident, Somalia native and small business owner.
• Jodie Lapchick, West End resident & marketing consultant
• David Marshall, West End resident, Maine Green Independent Party affiliated fine artist and City Councilor for the West End, downtown and Parkside neighborhoods (District 2).
  Marshall was the first sitting city council member to declare his candidacy in March 2011.
• Nicholas Mavodones, Back Cove resident, Democrat, current ceremonial mayor and at-large City Councillor, opposed charter change to elected mayor
• Markos Miller, Munjoy Hill resident, Served as Co-Chair of the Franklin Street Arterial Study Committee and teaches at Deering High School.
• Jed Rathband, East Bayside resident, professional PR consultant, ran the committee that campaigned for the elected Mayor in 2010, worked for the now defunct Maine Green Energy Alliance, former Maine lobbyist, former PR consultant for the Olympia Companies on Maine State Pier proposal
• Ethan Strimling, West End resident, former State Senator with the Democratic Party, unsuccessful candidate for Portland City Council and for his party's nomination for the United States Congress in 2008
• Christopher Vail, North Deering resident, Portland firefighter