A new poll shows Republican Steve Hilton is the front-runner in the California governor’s race.
Hilton leads a pack of candidates in the UC Berkeley Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research-Politico poll with 19%.
Democrat Tom Steyer is second with 13%, with Democrats Katie Porter and Rep. Eric Swalwell each polling 11%, tied with Republican Chad Bianco.
But Democrats see a silver lining.
In California’s "jungle primary" system, the top two candidates advance regardless of party, and there had been concern that the number of Democratic candidates could lead to two Republicans finishing at the top, Politico reported.
In a deep blue state like California, Republican hopes for taking back the governor’s mansion depends on Hilton and Bianco splitting the vote and being the top two vote getters in the primary.
"If Hilton starts taking votes away from Bianco within that solid Republican pool, that would make it less likely," said Jack Citrin, a University of California Berkeley political science professor and co-director of the poll, to Politico.
Other Democrats like former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa trail in single digits.
The two Latino candidates, "they’re taking votes from each other," Citrin said.
While 17% of voters overall remain undecided, 7% of Republicans are undecided, compared with 19% of Democrats and 32% of independents.
About 40% of likely voters said the top trait they wanted in their governor was a "fresh perspective from outside politics," according to the poll.
Democrats surveyed also said they wanted someone with state government experience or prior elected office on their resume.
The poll was conducted between Feb. 25 and March 3 among 1,004 registered voters, selected at random by Verasight.
The margin of error is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points for the voter survey and plus or minus 3.7 percentage points for the influencers.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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