Xavier Becerra's lead over Steve Hilton widens in California governor's race, new poll shows
With less than two months until Election Day, a new poll in the race for California governor shows Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra's significant lead over Republican Steve Hilton widening.
A new Public Policy Institute of California poll released this week shows that Becerra is at 60%, while Hilton is at 38%.
Becerra has increased his lead over Hilton by four percentage points compared to the PPIC poll that was released one month ago.
The findings in the latest poll are based on a survey of 1,745 Californians. The survey was conducted between Sept. 4 and Sept. 10.
"Becerra managed to win the primary and come out on top, despite spending way less than his rivals, despite having less name recognition, even though he had been a statewide elected official and, you know, such a longtime member of Congress. So, to me, it's not a terrible strategy -- spend the money at the end when people are really engaged. And also, you can take advantage of that national mood for the moment, and it's just about the letter that's next to your name," said Christina Bellantoni, a professor at USC's Annenberg School.
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Bellantoni says one thing to keep in mind is that voters are just starting to tune into the race. In order for Hilton to close the gap, Bellantoni says he must convince Independents and some Democrats that it's time for California to change course.
"Steve Hilton has a ton of work to do to make sure that people understand what he would do for California. Now, he has opportunities to start articulating that vision with campaigning as people are paying attention now following Labor Day, that's when things really start to crank into gear. We're going to start getting stuff in our mailboxes, ads start increasing, all of that. The campaigning will begin in earnest. And these two candidates will have to meet on a debate stage," Bellantoni said.
The poll also found that 65% of respondents believe candidates' positions on affordability are very important in determining their vote.
And nearly 60% of respondents say voting is more important this year than in past midterm elections.
