Poll: Porter, Villaraigosa Top the Field in California Governor’s Contest

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Katie Porter was the biggest beneficiary of Kamala Harris passing on a run for California governor, according to a new poll from POLITICO and its partners, with the former representative now holding a commanding lead in the race.

Thirty percent of registered voters who said they’d vote for Harris if she ran for governor now plan to support Porter. Sixteen percent of Harris supporters said former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was their second choice, while 11 percent said their new favored candidate was former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

Porter’s “gains from Harris are probably a combination of just being better known and having a clear ideological stamp,” said Jack Citrin, a political science professor at UC Berkeley and partner on the poll. “She has a particular progressive stamp — more than the other two guys — and I think that’s part of her appeal.”

Porter led in a head-to-head poll against his competitors in the Harris-less field, netting 21 percent of voters. Becerra and Villaraigosa tied as the next leading Democrats, pulling 9 percent support each. The results quantify Porter’s edge in the sprawling Democratic field, which she buttressed in the first half of the year with field-best fundraising numbers.

The poll, conducted before Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis dropped out and moved to the state treasurer’s race, signaled weakness in her support. Seven percent of voters backed Kounalakis’ gubernatorial bid, and she only attracted 8 percent of would-be Harris voters despite the two sharing Bay Area roots and allies.

Trailing Kounalakis was former state Controller Betty Yee, at 6 percent. Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who has considered running for governor or Los Angeles mayor, also sat at 6 percent, while former state legislative leader Toni Atkins, state Superintendent Tony Thurmond and timeshare executive Stephen J. Cloobeck polled in the low single digits.

Villaraigosa and Porter performed the best with Hispanic voters, while Hilton, the former Fox host, did the second-best of any candidate with Boomers.