Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra continue to lead as the top two candidates for California governor, according to the latest poll released by the California Democratic Party.
The poll, released Tuesday, May 19, showed Hilton, a political commentator, leading the crowded field with 22% of overall voter support, followed by Becerra, the former U.S. health secretary, at 21%.
Billionaire environmental advocate Tom Steyer, a Democrat, was third, with 15% voter support, while Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, was fourth with 10%.
Rounding out the field were four Democrats: former Rep. Katie Porter at 7%, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan at 4%, and, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond at 1% each.
The percentage of undecided voters dipped slightly from the last poll, going from 14% to 13%.
Among the two Republicans included in the poll, Hilton – who is endorsed by President Donald Trump – continued to extend his lead over Bianco, going from a 4 percentage-point lead in the last poll to a 12 percentage-point advantage.
On the Democratic side, Becerra’s lead over Steyer remained at 6 points, the same as two weeks ago.
During the last poll, Hilton and Becerra were tied at 18% voter support. While they remain the top two polling candidates, Hilton, by 1 percentage point, edged out Becerra for first place in the latest poll.
Steyer and Bianco, meanwhile, swapped positions between third and fourth place.
Porter, Mahan and Villaraigosa all lost ground in overall voter support, though they each remained in the same placement as CADEM’s last poll.
This latest poll was conducted May 14-16 and reflected responses from 1,200 likely voters. The survey was conducted in English and Spanish, both online and by phone. It has an error margin of 2.83%.
This week’s report marked the fifth and final poll by the California Democratic Party ahead of the June 2 primary election.
Party Chair Rusty Hicks, in early March, first urged low-polling Democrats to drop out of the race so that voters could consolidate around a top-performing candidate rather than risk having Democrats split the vote and getting shut out from the November runoff election.
When his advice was largely ignored, the California Democratic Party then took the unusual step of commissioning a series of polls over the course of roughly two months to gauge where the leading candidates stood with voters.
Hicks has said the polls are intended to provide an honest assessment of the candidates’ viability.