Press Democrat Poll shows Gavin Newsom favored in Sonoma County among candidates for governor
Among the wide field of candidates running to be California’s next governor, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is the clear favorite of Sonoma County voters, garnering more support than all other contenders combined, according to The Press Democrat Poll.
Newsom, the former San Francisco mayor who lives in Marin County, amassed support from 41 percent of respondents in the telephone poll, which surveyed 500 registered Sonoma County voters in the first week of May.
Republican businessman John Cox was a distant second with support from 10 percent of respondents, while Antonio Villaraigosa, the former ?Los Angeles mayor, and Newsom’s leading Democratic rival, had 8 percent.
Former state schools chief Delaine Eastin and state Treasurer John Chiang, both Democrats, had 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Republican Assemblyman Travis Allen and Democrat Amanda Renteria each had 3 percent, and 25 percent of respondents were undecided.
The top two vote-getters in the June 5 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will compete in the November runoff election.
Given the county’s proximity to San Francisco and Newsom’s liberal politics, it’s no surprise he resonated with voters, said David Binder, whose San Francisco-based firm conducted the survey for the newspaper.
Binder’s firm is separately contracted to handle polling for Newsom’s campaign.
Democrats outnumber Republicans about 3-to-1 in county voter registration and voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016 by the same margin.
Newsom was the overwhelming favorite among Democratic voters with ?56 percent support, far ahead of the almost 10 percent support for Villaraigosa, while Eastin had almost 6 percent and no other candidate had more than ?4 percent. Newsom got 25 percent support from independents and 13 percent among Republican voters.
About half of voters age 55 and up favored Newsom; ages 35 to 54 supported him in the mid-30 percent range and those under 35 gave him 27 percent support. Newsom, 50, began his political career with an appointment to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors at age 29.
Newsom’s best-known act as mayor was allowing same-sex couples to marry in San Francisco in 2004, gaining national attention but also triggering some resentment that he may have rallied conservative support for George W. Bush, who won his second term in the White House that year.
Cox owed his backing in Sonoma County largely to local Republicans, who gave him nearly 32 percent support in the poll along with 13 percent for Newsom and 10 percent for Allen. No other candidate had more than 4 percent of GOP support.
Villaraigosa’s standing among local poll respondents likely stems from his base in Southern California and lower name recognition in Sonoma County, Binder said.
The grandson of a Mexican immigrant, who was L.A.’s first Latino mayor in 133 years, got nearly ?21 percent support from Latino voters surveyed, while Newsom had 32 percent. Renteria, the daughter of former farmworkers, had nearly 8 percent.
The Press Democrat Poll surveyed voters on a series of issues crucial to Sonoma County, including the races for senator and Sonoma County sheriff. It is the newspaper’s first poll since 2003.
The new poll, conducted May 2 to May 7, connected with 500 Sonoma County voters by landline and cellphone. It targeted voters who had cast ballots in the November 2016 election and at least one other election since November 2012.
It had a margin of error of 4.4 percent.
Amy Henry, a 49-year-old nurse from Santa Rosa who identifies herself as “a proud progressive Democrat,” said Newsom’s policy proposals and ideology were mostly in line with her personal views. She credited him for his 2004 stand in support of gay marriage and said she wasn’t troubled by the prospect - despite Newsom’s disavowals - that he will use the governorship as a springboard to running for higher office.
“I hope so,” Henry said, envisioning a ticket of Sen. Kamala Harris for president with Newsom as her running mate.
“It’s the progressives’ turn to have a louder voice,” she said. “Vive la résistance.”
Jerry St. George of Sebastopol, a registered Republican and a self-declared conservative, said he hopes Cox, his choice for governor, is true to his affiliation with the GOP.
“I’m not sure,” said St. George, 72, a retired Sonoma County road department employee. “He’s trying to come across as one.”
He believes Cox would repeal the gasoline tax increase and sanctuary law governing detention of some undocumented immigrants, both of which he attributes to Gov. Jerry Brown and does not like.
St. George wants to see a crackdown on illegal immigration, saying the border wall proposed by President Donald Trump would be expensive but may be the best solution.
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