State Races A Donkey Sweep?

San Francisco, CA – With less than a week before the General Election, the latest independent non-partisan survey findings show Democrats leading all seven of the partisan statewide contests.

In its final pre-election survey of likely voters, the Field Poll shows Jerry Brown’s now 21-point lead over Republican opponent Neel Kashkari continuing to widen, drawing broad-based support among nearly all voter groups.

The survey says approximately 54% of California voters plan to send the incumbent governor back to Sacramento for his fourth and final term. Voter support for Kashkari, now at 33%, has remained approximately the same since June, drawing mainly from registered state Republicans and those identifying themselves as being conservative in politics, the only two voter groups where he continues to lead Brown. Currently 13% of voters are undecided, down 3% from earlier Field polls.

The toughest race for voters appears to be the non-partisan race for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Currently 44% of voters are undecided to support incumbent California Superintendent Tom Torlakson or schools’ executive Marshall Tuck. Both are now tied at 28% in voter support each, with the percentage of undecideds up 3% from earlier polls.

Democrats also lead in the contests for Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Controller, Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner by margins ranging from 7% to 13%. The closest of these, the race for Secretary of State, shows Democratic State Senator Alex Padilla leading Republican Institute Director Pete Peterson with 44% percent of voters, versus 37%, and 19% of likely voters still undecided.

In the second-closest race, for Controller, an eight-point gap separates Democratic Board of Equalization member Betty Yee and Republican Mayor and CEO Ashley Swearingin. Yee currently shows 44% in voter support, versus Swearingin’s 36%, 20% of voters still undecided.

The poll findings also show…

Democratic incumbent Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom leads Republican small businessman/educator, 47% to 37%, with 16% undecided voters.

Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Kamala Harris leads Republican California attorney Ronald Gold, 49% to 36%, with 15% undecided.

In the race for Treasurer, Democratic California State Controller John Chiang leads Republican businessman and CPA Greg Conlin.

Democratic incumbent Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones leads Republican independent insurance agent Ted Gaines.

This latest Field poll, conducted among a statewide random sampling of 1,536 registered voters, includes 941 voters considered likely to participate in next week’s general election.