New poll reshapes California governor race days before primary

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]We're just 5 days away from the June 2nd primary.

[00:00:03]>> And a new poll is shedding light on the race for governor, showing which candidates are leading and if voters are still up for grabs.

[00:00:10]>> State Matters political reporter Jenny Hutt joins us now with the latest.

[00:00:14]Jenny.

[00:00:15]>> Yet another poll and with just days to go, the race appears to be taking shape.

[00:00:19]A Democrat and a Republican continue to lead the field, but with millions of votes still to be cast, the question here is whether these numbers will help solidify support or shift it.

[00:00:30]>> After Memorial Day, we saw a pretty sharp spike in um people coming in to drop off their ballots or kind of come in and vote in person.

[00:00:39]>> California voters are turning out in the days leading up to the June gubernatorial primary election.

[00:00:45]>> But what a comeback it has been for Becerra and the Steyer situation, I think, is extremely interesting because he has spent $200 million, an all-time record in California, just in the primary. What, he has 15% of the vote so far?

[00:01:01]>> A new poll by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California showing Democrat Xavier Becerra at the front of the pack of eight leading candidates with 23% of likely voters. Republican Steve Hilton in second with 20% of likely voters, followed by Democrat Tom Steyer with 15%, Republican Chad Bianco with 13% and Democrat Katie Porter with 12%.

[00:01:21]>> I think it's undisputed that we do have kind of a three leading candidates right now, Hilton, Becerra and Steyer, and one would expect that these polls that are coming out will show different versions of that story.

[00:01:34]>> Politics often ever evolving, but the race to succeed Gavin Newsom has been especially turbulent.

[00:01:40]>> I think for Democrats in California, it has been pretty agonizing over the last several months.

[00:01:44]>> Former Democratic candidate Eric Swalwell was leading the field before he was forced out of the race following allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied.

[00:01:52]>> It just turned the entire campaign topsy-turvy.

[00:01:55]>> Democrat Katie Porter has also faced challenges on the campaign trail. Videos showing her clashing with a staffer and a reporter went viral drawing unwanted attention to her campaign.

[00:02:04]>> It's her temperament with that was in question and it still dogs her to this day.

[00:02:09]>> But after Swalwell dropped out of the race, Javier Becerra surged from the single digits to the top of the field.

[00:02:14]>> Competent, experienced individual with a long resume and he just, you know, things just sort of gravitated toward him. I mean, sometimes it's karma.

[00:02:24]>> As a result, political experts say Democrats have been holding on to their ballots.

[00:02:28]>> Like pearl clutching but with ballots.

[00:02:30]>> For a lot of voters who are watching a topsy-turvy governor's race and want to make sure that they're voting for somebody who can make it into the runoff, they are kind of waiting for a sign from somebody or something and it might be that these polls are providing that final kind of nudge to them.

[00:02:46]>> No matter what the result is, if it doesn't go your way, that's not a reason to not vote in the next one.

[00:02:52]>> It's important to note this PPIC poll was conducted about 2 weeks ago and new polls are expected this weekend, but with recent surveys consistently showing Steve Hilton, Javier Becerra and Tom Steyer at or near the top, experts say that appears to be the direction of the race heading into Tuesday. Chris, Laura.

[00:03:10]>> Yeah, good to know, Jenny. We also want to point out according to election data expert Paul Mitchell's ballot return tracker, 11% of ballots have been returned as of this afternoon.

[00:03:19]>> And streaming now on the free ABC 10 TV streaming app, the eight leading candidates in the race for governor speak to ABC 10 about their vision for the state. Just look for California governor's race on the home screen.