California Governor Gavin Newsom holds a wide lead in his bid for re-election over Republican challenger, State Senator Brian Dahle, according to a new poll from the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies.
The poll asked voters their preference for governor in the fall general election. Newsom leads Dahle by a margin of 52% to 25%. Newsom also leads Dahle by 24-points among people considered most likely to vote in the election (55%-31%).
Approval ratings in the poll found that 53% of the state’s voters approve of the job that Newsom is doing, while 42% disapprove. However, despite the positive approval rating, voters continue to believe that California is moving in the wrong direction by a margin of 52% to 40%.
Opinions about Newsom’s job performance and re-election bid fall largely along party lines.
According to the poll, Democrat voters outnumber Republicans in California by a margin of two to one.
Newsom is also universally known while 58% of voters were unable to offer an opinion of Dahle. This includes 35% of Republican voters that did not offer an opinion on him.
This poll by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies took place from Aug. 9-15 among 9,254 California registered voters.
