New poll shows gap stretching in California governor race — with just two weeks to go

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Xavier Becerra has stretched his lead over Steve Hilton in the California governor’s race, according to a new poll.

The Emerson College survey of 1,000 likely voters, conducted Oct. 17-19, shows the Democrat at 60% support compared to 33% for the Republican.

The same university’s polling center in August found there was an 18-point lead for the former Health and Human Services secretary.

“California independents break for Becerra by 10 points, 46% to 36%, a group Hilton would need more support among to compete in the general election,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.

According to the results, nearly half of California voters said the economy is their top issue, well ahead of the next top issue, housing affordability, which sits at 17%.

About 38% blamed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom for the state of California’s economy, while 44% blamed the president.

A year ago, those Californians who blamed President Donald Trump for the economy was at 27% while Newsom blamers were at 51%.

The new Emerson poll shows the state of the governor’s race has remained mostly the same since early September despite some other internal polling suggesting otherwise. Back in Sept. 15 to 20, a UC Berkeley poll showed Becerra leading 58% to 33%.

The Hilton campaign has tapped deeply into cost-of-living issues during his general election campaigning — such as $3 gas and no taxes on income below $150,000 — but experts said the odds of a Republican in a deep-blue state like California are too high to overcome.

“The difficult thing is that Steve Hilton’s a Republican in California,” Tim Rosales, a Republican strategist, previously told the LA Times.

“Democrats “understand the cost of living, and they feel it. They just feel like they need a new Democrat to deal with it.”

Hilton has made an attempt to court non-Republican voters and is currently going on an advertising spree titled “Just Try It” in an effort to get Democratic voters and others to vote for something different.

The Republican has previously taken out ads before asking people who dislike President Donald Trump, who endorsed him, to still vote for him.

“People do not need permission from a party to want a state they can afford,” Hilton said in a statement. “Gas, utilities, housing, schools.

“Sixteen years of the same government, and it keeps getting harder to live here. Just try something that actually brings costs down.”

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