New PPIC Statewide Survey continues to show wide open race to replace California Governor Gavin Newsom

LOS ANGELES () — A new poll shows there’s still no clear front-runner in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Republican Steve Hilton is in the lead at 15%, followed by Democrat Katie Porter at 13%. Republican Chad Bianco sits at 12%.

Democrats Eric Swalwell is at 11% and Tom Steyer at 10%, rounding out the top tier.

“Right now, these Democrats are not very different,” said USC Professor of Professional Practice and Director of the Annenberg Media Center Christina Bellantoni. “They don’t have a lot distinguishing them in their platforms. You can be ‘anti-Trump’ or ‘pro-Newsom’ or have a little bit of nuance in some of your positions, but generally, they want to stay the course with a Democratic governor in California that is playing the foil to President Trump and protecting Californians.”

According to the PPIC Survey, 10% of voters are undecided and the poll has a margin of error of 3.1%.

Although Porter’s campaign is feeling good about this poll, Porter is down seven points from where she was in the December PPIC survey.
Steyer, on the other hand, is up.

“Tom Steyer has actually raised his profile,” Bellantoni said. “Well, that’s in part because he’s spending millions and millions of dollars, including on a Super Bowl ad. His advertising is pretty good. It’s much better than we saw in the presidential race, for example. This is somebody who’s investing to get himself better known, and you can see that’s working.”

Although it remains unlikely, Hilton and Bianco could both advance past the June primary – the new poll shows the chances are increasing.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a Democrat, campaigned with Rick Caruso in Pacific Palisades on Thursday. In the poll, Mahan is only at 3%.

“You’re going to be seeing a lot of me,” he said. “I just got into the race three and a half weeks ago. I’m going to be traveling up and down the state. I’ve found myself in L.A. once or twice every week so far.”

Meantime, Democrat Betty Yee – who is at 5% – campaigned in the Inland Empire on Thursday.

“The race is still wide open,” she said. “I believe that all the things we’re talking about, affordability … You have to have somebody who can fix affordability crisis by first fixing the state budget, and that’s what I’m bringing to the role.”

Early voting starts in less than three months.