New polling, conducted after videos of former Rep. Katie Porter‘s interactions with a journalist and a staffer went viral, shows the former congresswoman and Republican Steve Hilton at the front of the pack of contenders in the 2026 race for California governor.
But it also shows many likely voters are still undecided.
Hilton, a former Fox News host who got his start in politics in the United Kingdom, led the new Emerson College poll with 16%.
Porter, who served three terms in Congress representing an Orange County district before mounting an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate last year, was nearly tied at 15%.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco came in at No. 3 with 11%. And Democrats Xavier Becerra and Antonio Villaraigosa both clocked in at 5%.
All of the other candidates had less than 4%.
Notably, though, the poll found that a plurality of likely voters surveyed, 39%, said they were still undecided in the race. Speculation, in recent weeks, has mounted about a potential heavyweight contender jumping into the race for governor.
The poll also asked likely voters to weigh in on how favorable the top three candidates were, as well as U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat who is rumored to be considering a run for California governor, after all.
Padilla had the highest favorability ranking, 40%, while Bianco had the lowest at 19%. Meanwhile, 26% of respondents said they had a favorable view of Porter and 21% said that about Hilton.
Bianco and Hilton had the smallest percentages of respondents who said they had unfavorable opinions of them, 14% and 12% respectively. But they had the largest percentages of people who said they were unsure about their candidacies or had never heard of them, 67% and 68% respectively.
Comparatively, 39% of respondents said they were unsure or had not heard of Porter, while 35% said they had an unfavorable view of her.
For Padilla, 32% of respondents said they were unsure or had not heard of him, while 28% said they held unfavorable views.
While Democratic support for Porter remained unchanged, the Emerson College poll found, backing from independent voters dropped from 16% to 11% from September to October.
It was Porter’s exchange with a CBS reporter that first went viral earlier this month. Porter grew increasingly and visibly frustrated with questions about whether she would need support from Californians who support President Donald Trump to win the gubernatorial race. At one point, she threatened to end the interview.
And then Politico released footage from 2021 of Porter berating a staffer who interrupted a recording she was taping for the Biden administration to correct a comment about electric vehicles. Cursing, Porter admonished the staffer for appearing in the background of the shot.
Porter has acknowledged she “could have handled things better” and said she would “continue to try to hold myself to do better.”
Both Hilton’s and Porter’s camps touted the new polling as wins on Friday.
“I’ve been working hard and traveling to every part of California,” Hilton said. “I love this state so much, and it breaks my heart to see the pain and struggle for regular working people after 15 years of one-party rule. Everyone can see we need change, and some political balance in California.”
Peter Opitz, a spokesperson for Porter, said the polling shows she is “the experienced, battle-tested fighter that Californians want as their next governor.”
“Poll after poll shows Katie leading her Democratic opponents by double digits, driven by grassroots supporters who know that she will stand up to Donald Trump’s attacks on California and bring down costs across the state,” said Opitz. “Katie remains focused on sharing her message with voters in every part and pocket of California.”
Meanwhile, a recent CBS/YouGov poll showed more likely voters said they were considering picking Padilla for governor (38%). Porter (27%), Becerra (22%) and Villaraigosa (21%) followed.
More likely voters said they were not considering Porter for governor (41%), followed by Villaraigosa (38%), Bianco (also 38%) and Hilton (37%).
The Emerson College poll surveyed likely voters from Oct. 20-21 with a margin of error of +/- 3.19 percentage points.
The CBS/YouGov survey was conducted with registered voters between Oct. 16-21 with a margin of error of +/- 3.8 points for registered voters and +/- 3.6 points for likely voters.