Gavin Newsom gets brutal exit report card as 62% of California voters are begging for a new direction: poll

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Gavin Newsom is leaving Sacramento with a damning report card.

A new poll finds 62% of California registered voters rate his tenure fair or poor, with voters panning his handling of homelessness, housing, taxes, state spending and AI — and nearly two-thirds wanting the next governor to take the state in a new direction.

Just 36% gave Newsom’s overall performance an excellent or good rating in the survey conducted by TrueDot in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Citrin Center and Politico.

The biggest group — 39% — rated his performance poor. Only 11% called it excellent.

The verdict was especially harsh on homelessness, where 72% said Newsom had handled the issue not too well or not at all well. Just 25% offered a positive assessment.

Even voters in his own party gave him poor marks: Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, 57% rated his handling of homelessness negatively.

Some 69% of voters rated Newsom’s handling of housing negatively, compared with 28% who said he had handled it well. That included 52% of Democrats and Democratic leaners giving him low marks.

Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon responded with a decidedly sunnier assessment, citing his electoral victories that included defeating a recall in 2021 and passing Proposition 50, last year’s congressional gerrymandering vote.

“Gavin Newsom overwhelmingly won five elections in eight years and is the most popular outgoing governor in the history of PPIC polling the question,” Gardon wrote in a text message to The California Post.

“It’s a shame America’s Favorite Governor can’t run for another term — he’d crush it!”

Asked whether California’s next governor should generally continue Newsom’s policies or take the state in a different direction, 62% chose a change of course. Just 28% wanted Newsom’s policies to continue, while 10% were unsure.

Even among Democrats and Democratic leaners, fewer than half (49%) wanted the next governor to generally continue his policies. Another 37% preferred a different direction.

Independents and other voters were more emphatic: 76% wanted a change, compared with just 11% who favored continuing Newsom’s approach.

Voters also gave Newsom poor marks on taxes and spending.

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Sixty percent rated his handling of taxes negatively, while 35% gave him positive marks. On state spending, 55% offered a negative assessment and 39% a positive one.

Newsom also received negative marks on artificial intelligence regulation: 43% said he had handled the issue poorly, compared with 35% who said he had handled it well. Nearly a quarter were unsure.

Climate change supplied the lone bright spot. Half of voters said Newsom had handled the issue well, compared with 40% who disagreed.

Voters’ frustration with Newsom hasn’t translated into support for a Republican successor.

Democrat Xavier Becerra led Republican Steve Hilton 55% to 35% among likely voters, with 10% undecided.

Becerra’s campaign, which was endorsed by the current governor, did not respond to requests for comment on how his administration would differ from Newsom’s.

HiIton told The Post that the poll findings show that the last 16 years under Democratic governors — Newsom and former Gov. Jerry Brown — have been a “massive failure” and voters want change.

“The only way to get change is to vote for me as governor. Becerra would be four more years of one-party rule — but even worse than Newsom,” Hilton said.

“He wouldn’t push back on any of the costs and craziness coming out of Sacramento. For everyone who is desperate for change and may be reluctant to vote Republican, I would say: Just try it.”

The online voter survey interviewed 1,149 California registered voters in English and Spanish from Oct. 9-14, including 909 likely voters.

The survey also exposed a gap between ordinary voters and the participating “policy influencers,” who were surveyed separately.

A separate survey of 213 influencers — who include political staffers, lobbyists, policy advisers and others dialed in to California politics, according to Politico — found they were more likely to back Newsom’s performance as governor.

Among those insiders, 52% rated Newsom’s overall performance excellent or good — compared with 36% of voters. They were also substantially more positive about his handling of taxes and climate change.

But even that crowd had its limits: 52% wanted California’s next governor to take a different direction.