Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom maintains lead in CA governor's race, poll shows
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- With just 10 weeks until the statewide primaries, the key races are starting to take shape.
ABC7 obtained results of an exclusive Eyewitness News Southern California News Group poll conducted by SurveyUSA.
In the governor's race, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom maintains a sizeable lead with 22 percent of the vote. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is next with 14 percent.
John Cox is leading Republican candidates with 11 percent.
There is still a large chunk of voters who are not sure about who they will pick. About 21 percent responded "undecided."
Here's how the poll of likely voters broke down:
- 22% - Gavin Newsom (D)
- 14% - Antonio Villaraigosa (D)
- 11% - John Cox (R)
- 9% - John Chiang (D)
- 7% - Travis Allen (R)
- 3% - Delaine Eastin (D)
- 3% - Robert Newman (R)
- 2% - Yvonne Girard (R)
- 2% - Robert Kleinberger (R)
- 1% - Daniel Amare (R)
- 1% - Brian Domingo (R)
- 1% - Peter Yuan Liu (R)
- 1% - Michael Bracamontes (D)
- 1% - Juan Bribiesca (D)
- 1% - Nickolas Wildstar (L)
- 0% - Akinyemi Agbede (D)
- 0% - Harmesh Kumar (D)
- 0% - Zoltan Istvan (L)
- 0% - Josh Jones (G)
- 0% - James Tran (I)
- 0% - Other
- 21% - Undecided
In the race for Senate, Sen. Dianne Feinstein leads all candidates at 31 percent. Stephen Schrader is the leading Republican candidate at 7 percent.
A number of candidates, including former Senate Leader Kevin de Leon, sit at 5 percent. There is also a large undecided block in the race, with 29 percent not sure who to choose.
Politico senior reporter David Siders spoke with ABC7 about the political climate in the state. He said the trailing candidates in the governor and Senate races need to get on TV in order to get the vote from those undecided voters.
Siders said the fact that Republican candidates are struggling to compete in top-ticket races like governor and Senate could have a major impact on House races come November.
"Republicans are important nationally here because they're defending six or seven House races that Republicans need to keep control of the House. Turnout in a primary election is driven by the top of the ticket, not by some congressman that most people don't know," he said.
