The latest poll in California’s governor race Friday shows Democratic former U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra maintaining his lead and a tightening contest for second place between Republican former political commentator Steve Hilton and billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer.
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The Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll showed Becerra with 25% support among likely voters, followed by Hilton with 21% and Steyer with 19%. The two candidates who receive the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, will compete against each other in the November general election.
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“This has been a wide-open and very unusual race,” IGS co-director Eric Schickler said in a statement about the poll. “While voter preferences have clarified some since our last poll, there is still a fair amount of uncertainty about which of the top three candidates will make the November ballot. Much now depends on turnout and whether those who prefer one of the lower polling candidates end up tilting toward one of the polling leaders.”
The poll was conducted May 19-24 among more than 5,000 likely California voters, with a margin of error of about 2 percentage points.
The poll showed support for Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 11%, former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter at 7% and Democratic San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan at 4%.
None of the 46 other candidates listed on the June primary election ballot and who were included in the latest poll received more than 1% support, while 7% of voters did not offer a preference, the poll found.
On Wednesday, the Public Policy Institute of California published a poll that found Becerra with 23% support followed by Hilton at 20% and Steyer at 15%, in a survey taken May 14-18. The campaign for Steyer, a former hedge fund founder turned environmentalist and philanthropist, responded that the PPIC poll didn’t reflect more recent changes in voter sentiment as Steyer and his supporters have launched more ads targeting Becerra, who also is a former California attorney general.
Steyer’s campaign responded to Friday’s Berkeley IGS poll by noting the close margins of the three leaders in the race.
“This poll makes two things clear: three candidates are in contention, and it’s a tight race,” Steyer’s campaign said in a statement.
Becerra’s campaign noted his front-runner status in the latest Berkeley IGS poll with a social media post that said “Four days left. Let’s go California.“
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