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LOS ANGELES () — The primary elections are fast approaching, and the race for California governor is a tight one.
Two polls released this week in the governor’s race show the same candidate in first place: Xavier Becerra, the former California attorney general and Health and Human Services secretary under former President Joe Biden.
Who will get that second spot in the runoff is a toss-up. A Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll of likely voters released Thursday has Becerra at 25%, Steve Hilton at 21% and Tom Steyer at 19%.
“It’s interesting to me that Steyer is spending so much attention going after Becerra right now when there might be an argument for him training his fire on Hilton, because that’s really who he needs to pass to get to the next round,” said Jim Newton, a professor of public policy at UCLA.
For weeks, Hilton has tried to get the other Republican in the race, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, to drop out and endorse him. Although Bianco has slipped from 16% to 11% in this latest Berkeley-L.A. Times poll, there’s still a chance two Democrats could box out Hilton from making it past June.
Tom Steyer has put more than $216 million of his personal fortune into his campaign.
“Californians are pretty clear that they are not interested in a Republican vision for California,” Newton said. “That’s why this is as lopsided as it is, and I do think the president is largely responsible for that, not Hilton.
“The macro-environment here is one in which Californians are so repelled by Trump that it just hurts anyone associated with him on a California ballot. And Hilton, you know, is both benefiting by Trump’s endorsement in terms of the fact that it’s probably helping him into a runoff slot if he gets there. But in the end, it’s kind of a kiss of death for him.”
Also comparing the March poll to this week, Katie Porter has slipped form 13% to 7%. The frontrunner, Xavier Becerra, campaigned in Palm Springs on Friday.
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