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Even in California, Hillary Clinton has slipped.

A new poll shows gay marriage has arrived in California – in public opinion if not in state lawbooks. Golden State registered voters now favor same-sex unions by 59 percent to 34 percent, a 25-point gap that is the largest margin of support for the issue in the three-plus decades the Field Poll has been asking the question. The new Field survey shows support has leapt markedly in the three and a half years since California voters approved Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage, 52.3 percent to 47.7 percent. The poll showed increases in support virtually across the board –...

Republican legislators in Sacramento are crying foul over an eleventh-hour push to limit future initiatives to November general elections. But the idea behind the union-backed legislation doesn't seem so bad to a majority of GOP voters, according to a new Field Poll. Registered Republicans supported the proposed change by a 15-point margin, 52 percent to 37 percent. Overall, 56 percent of voters back the proposal, which was approved by the Legislature and is now awaiting action by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is maintaining his edge over a surging Texas Gov. Rick Perry among Republicans looking to California's June 2012 presidential primary, according to a new Field Poll. The poll shows Romney's support has dipped slightly since June while Perry more than tripled his. But Romney still holds an eight-point lead.

Even as President Obama's approval rating has plummeted across the nation, it was always sunnier in California. Until now. For the first time since Obama became president in January 2009, fewer than half (46 percent) of California voters approve of his performance as president - a figure that's dropped eight percentage points in three months, according to a Field Poll survey of attitudes toward Obama released today. The poll of 1,001 registered state voters was taken Sept. 1-12. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. Nationally, 43.9 percent of respondents approve of Obama's job performance, according...

If there was any question about the breadth and magnitude of the plunge in President Obama's job-approval rating this summer, consider this new data point: For the first time, fewer than half of voters in deep-blue California approve of the job Obama is doing, according to a new Field Poll released early Wednesday. Just 46 percent of voters approve of the job Obama is doing, while 44 percent disapprove. That is eight points lower than the previous Field Poll, conducted in June. Obama has lost ground among all groups. His approval rating is 10 points lower among Democrats, 2 points...

Gov. Jerry Brown has voter support for calling a June special election and extending higher taxes, but his window of opportunity may close soon, according to results from the latest Field Poll. The survey shows voters are more negative toward tax increases than tax extensions, and Brown has only a few weeks left to put his proposals on the ballot as the latter, poll director Mark DiCamillo said. Still, DiCamillo noted the poll shows a majority of voters support an equal mix of taxes and cuts, as well as a special election to decide taxes. "Generally, the governor's proposals have...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A majority of Californians back Governor Jerry Brown's plan to ask them to extend tax increases to help close a $25.4 billion state budget gap, poll results released on Wednesday showed. Brown, a Democrat sworn in to a third term earlier this month as leader of America's most populous state, wants lawmakers to help him put a measure to voters in June that would propose extending tax increases that expire this year to raise money for California's cash-strapped government. Revenue from tax extensions, $12.5 billion in spending cuts and other moves would balance the state's books...

The races for lieutenant governor and attorney general are too close to suggest that any candidate has a firm edge going into Tuesday's election, according to the latest Field Poll released Friday. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is hanging onto a slim five-point edge of 42 percent to 37 percent over Republican Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado. The survey also found that Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley – the GOP candidate for attorney general – has dipped to a one-point lead over Democratic rival Kamala Harris, San Francisco's district attorney. The latest survey, which was conducted Oct....

California GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman says her former housekeeper should be deported. Whitman — down 10 percentage points in the latest Field Poll after spending over $140 million of her own money on the campaign — said Nicky Diaz should be forced to leave the country for lying about her illegal status. “It breaks my heart, but she should be deported because she forged documents, and she lied about her immigration status,” Whitman told Fox News's Greta Van Susteren on Wednesday night.

Sacramento - -- California voters are giving state leaders some of the lowest marks ever recorded, according to a Field Poll released today. A mere 10 percent of registered voters approve of how the 120 members of the Legislature are doing their jobs, and 80 percent disapprove. That's the lowest approval rating in the history of the poll, going back to 1983, and is six percentage points lower than in July. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger nearly matched his all-time low, with 23 percent of voters approving of his job performance, one percentage point higher than his low point two months ago...

BOXER HAS SIX-POINT LEAD OVER FIORINA IN SENATE RACE. MOST VOTERS BASING THEIR CHOICES ON PRO OR CON FEELINGS ABOUT BOXER. MANY VOTERS STILL HAVEN’T FORMED AN OPINION OF FIORINA. In the U.S. Senate race Democrat Barbara Boxer is holding on to a six percentage point lead – 47% to 41% – over her GOP rival Carly Fiorina. This is a slightly bigger lead than the incumbent had over Fiorina in Field Poll surveys taken in July and March of this year. Table 1 Trend of voter preferences in the 2010 general election for U.S. Senate (among likely voters) Boxer(D)...

After months of negative advertising fueled by more than $100 million in campaign spending, the California governor's race is the closest it's been this near the election in two decades. Six weeks from Nov. 2, Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown are dead even, and voters are increasingly negative about both of them, according to a nonpartisan Field Poll released Wednesday. "This race is boiling down to a tough decision," said Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo. "More voters hold negative than positive impressions of the candidates, and that contributes to the situation." Brown and Whitman each polled 41 percent...

You’ll remember that Rasmussen has actually been the good news poll for Barbara Boxer in her re-election campaign. The last Field Poll showed her trailing Carly Fiorina, and so did Survey USA, while Rasmussen at the same time had her up five points, 45/40. Now her Rasmussen firewall shows signs of crumbling as it has her lead down to a single point, 44/43: Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer and her Republican challenger Carly Fiorina are now essentially tied in California’s U.S. Senate race, moving the state from Leans Democratic to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen ReportsElection 2010 Senate Balance of Power...

Advocates of same-sex marriage rights were, to put it mildly, stunned when California voters passed Proposition 8 nearly two years ago, placing a ban on such marriages in the state constitution. Californians' acceptance of same-sex unions had been steadily growing, the state Supreme Court had overturned a statutory ban on gay marriage, and the 2008 presidential election had a big turnout of young and nonwhite voters presumed to support "marriage equality," as advocates call it. It later became apparent from exit polling, however, that Proposition 8 enjoyed strong support among black and Latino voters, which may have been decisive. Gay...

Despite the narrow passage of Proposition 8 in 2008, a slim majority of California registered voters favors allowing same-sex marriage, according to a Field Poll released today. The poll's results – 51 percent in favor, 42 percent opposed, 7 percent undecided – show big differences among age groups, geography and party affiliation. The results were close to those the Field Poll found in May 2008, six months before voters banned gay marriage by approving Proposition 8, 52 to 48 percent. The current survey also found that support for same-sex marriage drops below a majority when voters are given another option...

Arnold Schwarzenegger approval drops to record low -- tied with Gray Davis dsiders@sacbee.com Published Wednesday, Jul. 14, 2010 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's job approval rating has fallen to a record low, matching that of former Gov. Gray Davis from 2003, the year he was recalled, according to a Field Poll released today. Registered voters held an even dimmer view of the job state lawmakers are doing. Though the Legislature's job approval rating ticked up three points from March, it remained a dismal 16 percent, according to the poll. With the state mired in yet another budget crisis, just 22 percent of...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's scant voting record is viewed poorly by more than half of likely voters, but many aren't thrilled with Democratic rival Jerry Brown's age, either. In a wide-ranging measure of the candidate characteristics that matter most to voters, a report released today by the nonpartisan Field Poll depicts an electorate that favors both political and business experience as well as progressive or moderate views. Of likely voters surveyed, 54 percent said they are less inclined to vote for a candidate for high office who hasn't voted in many statewide elections, while 4 percent said they are...

(Reuters) - Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer's edge over Republican challenger Carly Fiorina has dwindled to 3 points as she seeks re-election in November, with more Californians now holding an unfavorable view of the three-term senator, a poll released on Thursday showed. Boxer, who once held a 30-point lead over Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard and a political novice, is now ahead by a margin of only 47 percent to 44 percent, the Field Poll found. One of President Barack Obama's staunchest allies who has become a powerful liberal voice in the Senate since she was first elected in...

SACRAMENTO — Sen. Barbara Boxer's popularity with Californians is falling as she finds herself in a statistical tie with her Republican challenger, former Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive Carly Fiorina, according to a Field Poll released Thursday. The survey found 47 percent of likely voters support Boxer while 44 percent back Fiorina, a gap that is within the poll's margin of error. The result is similar to the last Field Poll, taken in March. That survey showed Boxer with 45 percent support, compared with 44 percent for Fiorina. Meanwhile, the senator's popularity has fallen. Just 41 percent of voters say they...