CBS 5 Poll: Brown & Boxer Lead; Prop. 19 Failing
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) -- A new KPIX-TV CBS 5 poll released Tuesday showed Democrat Jerry Brown has an 8-point lead over Republican Meg Whitman in the race to be California's next governor, while Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer now enjoys a 5-point lead over GOP challenger Carly Fiorina.
The same poll also found, for the first time in seven CBS 5 tracking polls, that Proposition 19 – the state measure to legalize marijuana – is no longer favored among likely voters.
Brown, the current California attorney general and former governor, led Whitman 46% to 38% among likely voters, the poll found. Boxer's lead was 45% to 40% over Fiorina, who was hospitalized Tuesday due to a complication stemming from her past cancer treatment.
In yet another good poll sign for Democrats, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom showed a 42% to 34% lead over incumbent Republican Abel Maldonado in the race for lieutenant governor.
Download complete CBS 5 poll results (.pdf)
However, the most abrupt movement in the CBS 5 poll came on the question of Prop. 19, with 46% of likely voters now leaning towards voting No, with 44% leaning towards voting Yes.
SurveyUSA, which conducted the CBS 5 poll, noted that the Prop. 19 results are within the poll's 4-point margin of error, but reflected enough of an erosion of support for backers of the measure to be gravely concerned.
For example, in August, seniors split on Prop. 19, but this latest poll shows seniors now voting "No" by a 2-1 margin. In Greater Los Angeles, the measure started off 19 points ahead for those in favor of Prop.19, but now ends with a 5-point lead for those opposed – that's a 24-point swing. Lower-income voters started 14 points ahead in support of Prop. 19, but now end up with 16 point advantage to those opposed – that's, a 30-point swing.
For the CBS 5 poll, SurveyUSA interviewed 594 likely California voters between Oct. 21 and 25. The margin of error for the poll is 4.1 percentage points.
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