With less than two weeks to go until Election Day in the California recall, Gov. Gavin Newsom has carved out a more comfortable lead than …
With less than two weeks to go until Election Day in the California recall, Gov. Gavin Newsom has carved out a more comfortable lead than voter surveys showed just two weeks ago, according to a new poll from the Trafalgar Group, a Republican firm. The most recent poll, conducted Aug.26-29 among 1,088 likely voters, gives Newsom a nearly eight-percentage-point margin on the top-line question that will determine whether he remains in the governor’s mansion or is ousted by voters. It showed that 52% of Californians say they intend to vote no on whether to remove Newsom while 44.4% said they would vote yes, with just 3.7% remaining undecided. The poll has a margin of error of just below three percentage points. Newsom has been facing a far more competitive challenge than expected in solidly blue California. Over the last month, the first-term governor has repeatedly pleaded for national Democratic Party help as polls showed a dead heat on the question of whether to remove him from office. Initial plans for Vice President Kamala Harris to hold a rally this past Friday for Newsom were scrapped after news that 13 American service members and as many as 180 Afghans were killed in a terror attack at the Kabul airport. White House officials have said that President Biden will stump for Newsom, but time is running out and it’s unclear whether those plans remain in the wake of the chaotic and deadly Afghanistan withdrawal. On the second question, regarding whom voters would select as a replacement if Newsom were removed, the new Trafalgar poll shows conservative talk show host and surprise GOP frontrunner Larry Elder expanding his lead to 29% among the more than 40 certified candidates running. Previous polls showed Elder leading but with support hovering in the low 20% range. The candidate with the next highest level of support is little-known Kevin Paffrath, a 29-year-old real estate broker who hosts a YouTube channel about personal finance, stocks, taxes and real estate with 1.
