CA senate race: Schiff, Porter lead in new poll, but Garvey and Lee not far behind

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The race to fill the late California Senator Dianne Feinstein's seat is on, and according to a new poll, Representatives Adam Schiff and Katie Porter are neck and neck.

The poll was conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and was co-sponsored by The Los Angeles Times.

It shows Porter and Schiff at the top among likely voters, with Porter at 17% and Schiff at 16%. The top two finishers in the March 5 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will move on to the November runoff.

However, 30% of likely voters are still undecided.

"To the extent that they're making up their minds, they're making up their minds on very small differences between these candidates, so I would think that there's still a lot of room for any candidate in this race to grow," said Jim Newton, a lecturer at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Seeing slight growth from the last poll, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee of Oakland is at 9% and former Major League Baseball MVP and beloved Dodger Steve Garvey stands at 10%. Garvey is running as a Republican.

"Garvey just entered the race and he's basically getting more support now than the two other Republicans who had been in the race for some time," said Mark di Camillo, the Director of the Berkeley IGS Poll. "That's significant. I think he needs to consolidate the support of Republican voters."

But there's roughly twice as many registered Democrats in California than registered Republicans.

"At best, I would say he's got a chance to make the runoff if there's a crowded Democratic field, but that's just a chance to lose in November really," said Newton.

The poll also asked whether participants believe the candidates would fight uncompromisingly for what they believe in - 64% said that attribute was a positive factor while 15% said it was a negative factor.

"I think voters are not in the mood for negotiating with the other party these days," said Di Camillo. "It's really just saying what you believe and holding to it. Porter has been strong on that and actually, Steve Garvey's voters think he'll do that as well."

In terms of fundraising, Porter and Schiff are way ahead and they haven't even begun airing television ads. Once that starts, that could change the race.