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A new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies shows that Californians who are expected to vote in Governor Gavin Newsom's recall election are evenly divided on whether or not to remove Newsom from office. This new poll shows that 47% of likely voters support recalling Newsom, while 50% were against removing the current Governor from office. This is a very close margin and could be a glimpse into the future.
Surprisingly, Conservative radio host, Larry Elder leads amongst candidates to replace Newsom, the survey found. The poll also found that support for reality star and former Olympian, Caitlyn Jenner remains extremely low with only 3% support. The UC Berkeley survey also found that 40% of likely voters remain undecided on another candidate that could potentially replace Newsom, which could provide an opportunity for another candidate to climb up the ranks before the September 14th recall election. Former San Diego mayor, Kevin Faulconer and businessman John Cox were backed by 10% of respondents.
When respondents were asked about who their first pick would be to replace Newsom if he ended up getting recalled, 18% of likely voters preferred Larry Elder. Interestingly enough, nearly 90% of Republicans conveyed a high level of interest in the upcoming recall election while 53% of independent voters and 58% of Democrats expressed their interest in the election.
This poll also found that of registered voters in California, 36% supported removing Newsom from his post as Governor while 51% did not agree.
Ballots for the recall election of Gavin Newsom begin being mailed out August 16th and the election officially takes place on September 14th.