CA Gov and Sen: Dems Brown and Boxer Hold Small Leads in Latest Poll

The two Democrats running atop the California ticket, gubernatorial candidate (and current state Attorney General) Jerry Brown and Senator Barbara Boxer, both hold modest leads in their respective races according to a new Ipsos/Reuters poll.

Ipsos
Jerry Brown 45
Meg Whitman 39

Barbara Boxer 45
Carly Fiorina 41

Republican candidate for governor Meg Whitman has just come off a heated primary in which she spent huge amounts on advertising. Whitman’s name recognition is likely higher even than Brown, a former governor, at this point, so having any lead right now puts Brown in respectable shape. But Brown is facing a candidate willing to spend well over a hundred million dollars of her own fortune on this political campaign, which should still be a scary prospect for the AG.

The news is a bit worse for Boxer. Not only is Carly Fiorina just four points behind, but Boxer is also an incumbent polling below 50 percent. Having a whopping 78 percent of Californians believing their state is on the wrong track means it is not a good environment for an incumbent. Of course, California is a heavily Democratic-leaning state, and even a substantial national swing to the Republican party might not be large enough to overcome the Democrats’ built-in advantage in the state.