Meg Whitman has spent around $90 million of her own money so far on her bid for governor. (Photo by Eric Draper/Whitman campaign)
Story Created:
Jun 30, 2010 at 11:36 AM PST
Story Updated:
Jun 30, 2010 at 11:40 AM PST
(CNN) -- A new poll indicates that the Democratic candidates hold single-digit leads over their Republican counterparts in California's gubernatorial and senatorial battles.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos survey, California Attorney General Jerry Brown holds a 45 to 39 percent advantage over Meg Whitman in the race for governor, with 14 percent undecided.
Brown, a former two-term governor in the 1970's and 1980's, has also served as Oakland mayor and California secretary of state. Whitman, the billionaire former eBay CEO who also was an adviser and surrogate for Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential bid, has spent around $90 million of her own money so far on her bid for governor.
The winner in November will succeed Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who can't seek re-election because of term limits. Schwarzenegger has struggled to fix the Golden state's economy and has battled with state lawmakers over how to reduce California's massive budget deficit. The poll indicates that only 27 percent of California voters approve of the job he's doing in Sacramento. Nearly eight in ten questioned say that the state is headed in the wrong direction.
According to the poll, which was released Tuesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer leads Republican challenger Carly Fiorina 45 percent to 41 percent, with 13 percent unsure. The former Hewlett Packard CEO, who was also an economic adviser and surrogate for McCain's White House bid, beat out two other rivals in the GOP primary earlier this month. Boxer is bidding for a fourth-term in the Senate.
Ipsos poll analyst Clifford Young say the fact that Democrats are leading the governor and Senate battles is not out of the ordinary, since they have better name recognition. But as the campaign progresses "we should see some sort of diminution of that advantage" Young tells Reuters. "What we're finding is a very close race."
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted June 25-27, with 600 California registered voters questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.
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