California: Whitman, Brown Lead for Governor

August 13, 2009 5:40 PM | | Comments (0)

A Research 2000/Daily Kos poll of 600 likely voters conducted Aug. 9-12 shows Republican Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, and Democrat Jerry Brown, the current state attorney general and a former governor, leading their respective fields for the open 2010 governor's race in California.

In a hypothetical general election matchup between the two, Brown bested Whitman 42 percent to 36 percent, with 22 percent undecided.

Brown also led San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in a hypothetical Democratic primary matchup, 29 percent to 20 percent -- but a whopping 51 percent said they were undecided.

On the Republican side, Whitman led former Rep. Tom Campbell and state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner in the GOP primary: 24 percent for Whitman, 19 percent for Campbell, 9 percent for Poizner and 48 percent undecided.

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is term-limited in 2011. CQ Politics rates the governor's race Leans Democratic.

The poll also included questions related to Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer's 2010 re-election race. Boxer easily bested Republican challenger Chuck DeVore, a state assemblyman, in the poll: 53 percent to 29 percent, with 18 percent undecided.

Republicans are actively courting Carly Fiorina, the former chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, to run against Boxer. The poll showed Boxer defeating Fiorina 52 percent to 31 percent, with 17 percent undecided.

CQ Politics rates the Senate race Safe Democratic.

The poll, which reached voters by telephone, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

-- Rachel Kapochunas

To see how the 2010 races are shaping up, check out CQ Politics' Senate election map and CQ Politics' Governor election map.

More from CQ Politics

Categories: Research 2000

Tags: Boxer, Brown, California, Campbell, DeVore, Fiorina, Newsom, Schwarzenegger, Senate, Whitman

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