Free Republic

California voters are giving U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer some of the lowest approval ratings of her career, as the three-term Democrat is in a statistical dead heat against first-time GOP office-seeker Carly Fiorina, according to a new Field Poll released today. Boxer leads Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, 47 to 44 percent, according to Field's survey of 1,390 registered voters, 1,005 of whom were considered likely to vote in November. The poll, conducted June 22-July 5, has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points among likely voters. For Boxer's job performance ratings among registered voters, the margin of error...

California's race for governor is a dead heat, as Republican Meg Whitman's massive advertising blitz coupled with Democrat Jerry Brown's lo-fi campaign have raised doubts about Brown and cut his lead among Latino voters and other key Democratic constituencies, a Field Poll released today shows. Brown leads Whitman 44 to 43 percent in the poll, with 13 percent undecided, according to Field's survey of 1,005 likely voters. But billionaire Whitman's relentless advertising campaign has helped sour voters' views of Brown, with 40 percent holding an unfavorable opinion of him - up from 25 percent in March 2009. Still, 42 percent...

Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman find themselves tied in their race for California governor, but voters have grown increasingly disenchanted with both candidates, according to a poll released Wednesday. Brown has support from 44 percent of likely voters, compared with 43 percent for Whitman, but the difference is well within the Field Poll's margin of error. The poll shows 40 percent have an unfavorable impression of the state attorney general and former governor, up from 32 percent in January. Since she won the primary, Whitman has released television ads that are playing continuously throughout the state, one promoting...

The state's controversial global warming law still has the support of a majority of Californians despite growing doubts about its potential impact on the economy, according to a Field Poll released Tuesday. The poll shows 58 percent of registered voters support Assembly Bill 32, which will require significant reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions. The poll was commissioned by Next 10, a San Francisco nonprofit group that supports green technology and reducing gases blamed for global warming. Next 10 released the survey as AB 32 is essentially fighting for its life; a conservative group, bankrolled by Texas oil companies, is pushing a...

WASHINGTON – Former Rep. Tom Campbell has a six-point lead over his closest challenger in the three-way Republican primary to face Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, whose popularity has significantly eroded in the past two months, according to a Field Poll released today. The survey found Campbell leading former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina 28 percent to 22 percent among likely Republican voters in the June 8 primary, while Assemblyman Chuck DeVore had support from 9 percent. But most prospective GOP voters, roughly 40 percent, were undecided. While Boxer's races have historically been sleepy affairs, the poll indicates that Californians could be...

Half of voters think legislators should focus on spending cuts over taxes to close all or part of the $19.9 billion budget deficit, according to the latest Field Poll. A trailing 29 percent said they supported an equal mix of spending cuts and tax increases, according to the results, which were released today. The poll also showed a slight edge in opposition to a proposal to lower the supermajority vote requirement for passing a budget to a majority vote, with respondents split 47-43 percent.

Half of California voters believe the state should close its $19.9 billion deficit mostly or entirely through spending cuts rather than tax increases, according to a Field Poll released Tuesday. That compares with 29 percent who said the state should use an equal mix of spending cuts and tax increases, or 13 percent who prefer balancing the budget solely or mostly with tax hikes. Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo said that with the economy still in recovery and the state having passed tax hikes last year, "tax increases are just not that popular a notion right now." "You're asking people...

Californians are pretty sure President Barack Obama was born in the U.S.A., but not at all sure about the tea party movement, according to a new Field Poll. Conversely, the survey found that those who identify strongly with tea partiers are not at all sure about the president's true nation of origin. "It's an interesting phenomenon that they are not only rebelling against the growth and size of government, but they are actually questioning the authority of the president," said poll director Mark DiCamillo. Doubts about whether Obama was born outside U.S. soil, and thus constitutionally ineligible to be president,...

If Republicans want to build on Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts' Senate race in historically blue California this fall, they'll have to overcome the state GOP's inability to win over ethnic voters, or hope those voters stay home. That's the implication of findings from a new Field Poll of California voters released this week in collaboration with New America Media. The poll, which was conducted in six languages across California's white, black, Hispanic, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese communities, found that while incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and likely Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown hold modest leads or trail potential Republican...

California’s leading public pollsters, Field Poll director Mark di Camillo and Public Policy Institute of California chief Mark Baldassare, did their usual post-election analysis at today’s monthly luncheon of the Sacramento Press Club. It was an indicative event with regard to the current state of state politics. A relative handful of those in attendance were practicing journalists, tracking the fast diminishing state of state political journalism, and most of the questions (or speeches) after the presentations were posed by non-journalists. After a lengthy awards ceremony of scholarships for the journalists of tomorrow (hmm …), the two Marks, as they are...

Two of California's top pollsters said Tuesday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and some lawmakers are miscasting last month's special election as a clarion call against any new taxes to solve California's fiscal crisis. Instead, pollsters Mark DiCamillo and Mark Baldassare characterized the May 19 vote against five budget measures as an order to a dysfunctional state government to fix California's budget mess – and do so quickly. "We've heard a lot of people say the vote means 'no new taxes.' I would question that," said Baldassare, survey director for the Public Policy Institute of California, in the pollsters' joint appearance...

Sacramento -- California voters, frustrated by the recession and the state's fiscal crisis, gave Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature their lowest-ever approval ratings, according to the Field Poll released today. Only 33 percent of registered voters surveyed April 16-26 said they approved of Schwarzenegger's job performance, while 55 percent said they disapproved and 12 percent were undecided. Schwarzenegger's rating is his lowest since becoming governor in 2003. But the governor's numbers are better than the Legislature's approval rating, which sank to 14 percent, with 74 percent disapproving. It was lawmakers' worst rating since the Field Poll began tracking such...

Following passage of the long-delayed state budget in February, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agreed to place proposals for voter approval onto a special statewide election scheduled for May 19. Now, with just three weeks to Election Day, a new Field Poll finds pluralities of likely voters lining up on the No side on five of six of the ballot measures.

Judging by the results of this week's Field polls, California voters: (a) Are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore. (b) Don't give a rat's patootie about the May 19 special election. (c) Are highly skeptical that the half-dozen propositions on the aforementioned election's ballot are going to do much to buoy the state's sinking finances. The correct answer, based on interviews with veteran observers of the California political scene, as well as voters themselves, is (d) all of the above. "They are extremely leery of budget proposals coming out of Sacramento," said Jack Pitney, a professor...

Field Poll finds five of six California ballot measures failing April 29, 2009 California voters appear to be leaning toward "no" on five of six statewide propositions on the May 19 ballot, including measures that would boost the state's sagging budget and provide more funding for schools and colleges, according to a new Field Poll. The poll results come as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been campaigning hard in favor of Proposition 1A, which he said is crucial to helping fix the state's budget mess. Other Republicans oppose the measure, saying it is likely to bring new taxes. According to the...

A sturdy axiom of ballot- measure politics is that voters who are confused or uncertain about a proposition's effects will vote against it. That's why a measure's opposition forces often use advertising and other political tools not to make a conclusive case, but to plant doubt and/or confusion. Conversely, of course, proponents try to hammer home a simple, positive message. The six budget-related measures on the May 19 special election ballot are especially complex, as if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators purposely set out to make them as confusing as possible, with interrelated wordage, triggers and poison pills. And that...

In an angry rebuff to Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Party leaders, voters are turning thumbs down on a package of budget reform measures on the May 19 special election ballot, a new Field Poll shows. Support for five of the six measures, all of which require a majority vote, is no greater than 40 percent and each is running between nine and 27 percentage points behind the opposition. Only Proposition 1F, which would bar pay raises for government leaders in budget deficit years, looks like a winner, leading 71 percent to 24 percent. More than 70 percent of...

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer has a comfortable lead over potential Republican challengers for her job in 2010, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, though voters are divided in their enthusiasm for her re-election, according to a Field Poll released Thursday. In a hypothetical matchup against Schwarzenegger, who will leave the Governor's Office in January 2011, Democrat Boxer leads by 54 percent to 30 percent, the poll found. The Republican governor has never said publicly that he plans to run for another political office. That marks a drop for Schwarzenegger from the October 2007 Field Poll, when the governor had a 44 percent...

The struggle over Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage in California, has tightened dramatically in the past month, with opponents holding a slim 49 to 44 percent edge among likely voters, according to a new Field Poll. "The 'Yes' campaign has raised some doubts and moved people over to their side," said Mark DiCamillo, the poll's director. "A relatively large segment of voters are in conflict over this measure." << Database: Look up Prop. 8 donors >> The new poll also showed that Proposition 2, which would require bigger cages and pens for farm animals, appears headed toward an...

New poll: Obama, McCain tied again in the valley Barack Obama and John McCain are back to being in a statistical dead heat in the Central Valley, according to a Field Poll released Thursday. Obama has pulled ahead of McCain 47.2 percent to 45.9 percent among likely voters, according to numbers provided to the Sacramento Bee. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. (The raw numbers were 77 for Obama, 75 for McCain). A September Field Poll had McCain up in the valley 45 percent to 40 percent; in July McCain led 39.6 percent to 38.8...