By CalMatters
Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton are holding on to the lead in the latest poll ahead of the California governor election.
That’s according to the Public Policy Institute of California, which surveyed 986 likely voters earlier this month. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed (23%) said they’d vote for Becerra, followed by Hilton at 20%, Tom Steyer at 15%, Chad Bianco at 13% and Katie Porter at 12%.
Some Californians are watching governor polls in part to decide how they’ll vote. The state’s open primary allows the top two vote-getters to advance to November regardless of party, and for several months Republicans Hilton and Bianco appeared to have a shot at locking Democrats out of the ballot.
Becerra, the former state attorney general and health secretary to former President Joe Biden, began to pull ahead after U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
Steyer’s campaign in a written statement contested the PPIC survey’s findings, saying it missed recent movement toward the liberal billionaire. The campaign pointed to its own internal tracking and another poll conducted for Hilton.
Aside from the governor’s race, the PPIC survey held clues about how voters feel ahead of midterm elections that will decide which party controls Congress in the final two years of President Donald Trump’s second term. Three-quarters of likely voters said the country is headed in the wrong direction — the highest percentage in over two decades, according to PPIC.
Though it’s not surprising that the majority of the Democrats polled — 92% — agreed with this sentiment, 50% of Republicans also felt the same way. The percentage of Republicans who said the country was heading in the right direction also declined sharply — from 64% in a February PPIC poll to 49%.
Still undecided about the election? Check the Daily Post’s Voter Guide to help make up your mind.
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