LOS ANGELES >> Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton holds a commanding lead in California, but her support — like the support for Republican nominee Donald Trump — is marred by a lack of enthusiasm, according to a poll of California voters released by the Southern California News Group and KABC/Eyewitness News.
Clinton leads Trump 57 percent to 32 percent, about the same margin held by Barack Obama when he defeated John McCain and Mitt Romney in the 2008 and 2012 elections.
But 1 in 3 people voting for Clinton, and an almost identical 1 in 3 who plan to vote for Trump, are doing so as a statement against the nominee from the other party, according to the poll conducted by SurveyUSA. Only about two-thirds of the voters for each candidate could be described as an enthusiastic or mild supporter.
It’s unclear how that support stacks up against support for candidates in previous elections.
It is clear that California voters have a stronger antipathy toward Trump than they do toward Clinton. About 52 percent of voters have an “extremely unfavorable” view of Trump, while 31 percent said they have that same feeling about Clinton, according to the poll.
Another takeaway: Third-party candidates aren’t faring well in California. The poll found that Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson would win about 3 percent of the vote in California and Green Party nominee Jill Stein would capture just 1 percent of the Golden State electorate. About 7 percent of those polled said they haven’t picked a presidential candidate yet.
Beyond the seemingly mixed backing for the leading presidential candidates, the poll found California Attorney General Kamala Harris leading Rep. Loretta Sanchez 44 percent to 27 percent in the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer. Harris and Sanchez, like Boxer, are Democrats.
The poll queried voters about four of the 18 proposals on the Nov. 8 ballot. Californians are on track to approve proposals to legalize the recreational use of marijuana (Proposition 64), restrict the sale of ammunition (Prop. 63) and add a $2 tax to a pack of cigarettes (Prop. 56).
Meanwhile, a proposal to ban the death penalty and replace it with life in prison (Prop. 62) is on track for defeat, according to the poll.
SurveyUSA interviewed 900 California adults, including 782 who were registered to vote and 678 who are considered likely to vote in the Nov. 8 general election.
