Gavin Newsom Ahead of John Cox; Dianne Feinstein Leads Kevin De Léon

Gavin Newsom smirk (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
Jeff Chiu / Associated Press

A newly released USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll has found that Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading Republican John Cox by a wide margin in the race for governor.

The same is true for Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who is very far ahead of state Sen. Kevin de Léon (D-Los Angeles) in the polls.

The poll found that 45 percent of registered voters who plan to vote in November’s general election will support Newsom, while 28 percent said they will vote for Cox, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump ahead of the recent June primary.

However, there is room for improvement, as the same poll found that 27 percent of those voters were undecided.

Meanwhile, Feinstein is projected to receive 36 percent of the vote compared with just 18 percent for de León. Still, there’s an outstanding 46 precent of registered voters who are undecided.

Feinstein is seeking a fifth term in office. While analysts reportedly found it surprising that Feinstein does not have greater support, it is likely the incumbent senator’s massive cash advantage and broader name recognition will help her reach that chunk of “undecided” voters.

Feinstein, who was denied the California Democratic Party’s endorsement in February, reportedly has $7 million in her campaign war chest.

De León has reportedly been struggling to raise money since announcing his candidacy last October.

As for the governor’s race, the Los Angeles Times noted: “Three out of 10 Californians who voted for Cox said they did so primarily because they wanted to ensure a Republican was on the November ballot, as opposed to supporting him because he reflected their beliefs and values, or some other reason.”

Newsom has stated his long-held belief that he will perform much better in the general election against a Republican. In fact, during the final debate, Newsom told moderator Chuck Todd of NBC News with a grin: “A Republican would be ideal in the general election.”

Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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