Second poll shows Becerra’s ahead in California governor’s race

Xavier Becerra holds a clear lead in the California governor’s race, according to a new poll, maintaining his frontrunner status with less than a week until the state’s top-two primary.

A Berkeley IGS tally put Becerra atop the field with 25 percent of the vote, followed by Republican Steve Hilton at 21 percent and Democrat Tom Steyer at 19 percent. If those results hold and Becerra advances to the general election against Hilton, he will be the prohibitive favorite to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The poll broadly replicates the standings from a Public Policy Institute of California survey released this week, although it places Steyer closer to Becerra than the earlier tally — suggesting the race may be tightening in the final days as Steyer, a billionaire who has poured about $215 million of his own fortune into the campaign, unleashes a barrage of ads targeting Becerra. Its margin of error was plus-or-minus 2 points.

But the polls together cement the finding that it is Becerra’s race to lose. The former California attorney general and Biden Cabinet secretary languished for months in the race’s lower tier before capitalizing on Eric Swalwell’s April implosion to leap to the front of the pack.

Becerra’s campaign touted the poll results, saying in a statement that “the momentum is clearly on our side heading into Election Day,” while Steyer’s camp argued the “tight race” was still up in the air.

Polls and perceptions could play an outsize role in the unusually fluid governor’s race. Early data suggests many Democratic voters are holding onto their ballots while they make up their minds — Hilton was outpacing Democrats among people who have already voted, the poll found — and a portion of those voters may opt for the Democrat likeliest to win. Becerra led among people who haven’t voted yet.

The polls also show that the scenario Democrats once feared, in which Democrats split the votes so many ways that two Republicans advance, is almost certainly not going to happen, with Republican Chad Bianco well behind Hilton at 11 percent.

Instead, it is likelier that two Democrats, Becerra and Steyer, advance to the runoff in a more fitting result for the profoundly Democratic state.

The survey underscored how far two Democrats, former Rep. Katie Porter and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, had slipped in the race’s final stretch. Porter drew 7 percent support, while Mahan registered 4 percent.

المصدر: Politico