California Primary Polling

[SocialDemocrat61]

This is not good.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/governor/general/2026/california/open_primary
Except for Swalwell and Porter, all the other Democrats need to drop out or California could end up with a Republican Governor.

[rso]

1. California polling

Don’t democrats and republicans have their own separate primaries ?

[Mz Pip]

4. Jungle primaries

Yes our primaries are separate, not open, but the top two finishers, regardless of party, go to the general.

[SocialDemocrat61]

5. No they don't

They do what's described as a jungle primary and only the two top candidates, regardless of party, go into the general. So it's possible that it will only be the two republicans since there are so many democrats in the race dividing the democratic vote. That's why everyone but Swalwell and Porter should drop out.

[Mz Pip]

8. Steyer won't drop out

He’s the only one I’ve seen ads for.

Porter sends a lot of fundraising emails. Haven’t seen either for Swalwell.

[SocialDemocrat61]

9. Swalwell is polling well

Perhaps he is saving funds until closer to the primary in June.

[Jose Garcia]

22. Steyer just put $28 million more into his campaign

[Mz Pip]

2. The primary is in June

Not very far away. I’ve been following this for weeks and these numbers haven’t changed.

And the California Democratic Party had a convention a couple of weeks ago and didn’t endorse any of the candidates.

The Republicans in California are motivated and salivating at the prospect of a Republican governor. Bianco is a lunatic MAGA. I don’t know much about Hilton except that he’s British.

[Chasstev365]

3. Real Clear is totally rightwing biased. I call BS!

[SocialDemocrat61]

7. OK

https://www.kqed.org/news/12074679/new-poll-finds-race-for-california-governor-remains-deadlocked
https://emersoncollegepolling.com/california-2026-poll-hilton-swalwell-bianco-lead-nonpartisan-primary-for-governor/

[Fiendish Thingy]

11. The risk is very real

There are only three Republican candidates and over a dozen Dems running.

Do the math.

[QueerDuck]

6. Swallwell would be better than the rest...

... the state has already rejected Porter once, I see no reason to believe this would change.

[EuterpeThelo]

12. Born and raised

California girl here.

I LOVED Katie Porter in the House, but her decision to run for Senate and give up a not-safe House seat that her departure put at great risk when it REALLY mattered, combined with her temper tantrum when she lost the Senate race, made me, sadly, unable to support her any longer. IMHO, her choices showed REALLY bad judgment and putting ego over the good of the country.

I honestly wouldn't have minded Steyer until I found out he made a lot of his money investing in private prison companies. Just YUK.

We NEED Dems to coalesce behind Swalwell, IMHO, or we're gonna be well screwed. I'm old enough to remember Pete Wilson and Ahhhhhnold.

[Mz Pip]

19. She dropped out

Saying being a congresswoman took too much time from her family. Also, she might have lost.

How being governor won’t be time consuming is a question that should be answered.

[QueerDuck]

23. Her "face saving" excuse then, now presents her adversaries with (legitimate) ways to question...

... her judgement and her commitment to the role and responsibility. If it was "too much" then, why would now be any different?? How would her work and obligations suffer as a result. --- She need to "retire" from politics and instead be a strong advocate on Youtube. I'm sure she'd find a loyal audience and she could spread the "gospel" in ways that would ALSO allow her to spend time with her family... on her own schedule.

[QueerDuck]

21. Agreed... as Democrats, we must think strategically and go for the WIN!

The desire for ideological perfection can result in a candidate who's un-electable, or who cannot compete effectively in a Jungle Primary where votes and loyalties are split so many different directions that NO Democrat rises to the top to compete head to head with the Republican. Or, worse yet... when feelings are hurt and disappointed supporters feel "cheated" that their preferred candidate didn't win, they opt to stay home and not vote in the General Election in order to "teach everyone a lesson" and to spite everyone rather than supporting the party's nominee thus handing the win to the Republican. (I'm not saying that will happen this time, but similar things have happened in the past, so it's always a greater than zero percent possibility.)

Wilson? Arnold? Damn... you ARE old!

(I remember too.)

[Fiendish Thingy]

10. Yup

All Dems except Porter and Swallwell need to drop out.

Surely they know they have no chance of winning the primary (unless they are tech bro supported Saboteurs)

[the_liberal_grandpa]

13. No Republican Can Win Governors Race In California

California Democrats need to, and will i predict, rally around at least one candidate to get in to the runoff.

Whomever that is will be the next governor of our great state.

Californians will not elect a repub to runs this state.

[Mz Pip]

18. It wasn't that long ago

we had Arnold for two terms after recalling a perfectly decent Democratic governor. Anything can happen here.

[Kingofalldems]

14. Nope.

[Sympthsical]

15. It's early

Democrats will sort themselves out eventually.

[bottomofthehill]

16. There are still 40 percent undecided. They will break to a Democrat.

The dems have some good choices. I am not a Californian and thus have no vote. I am a Swalwell fan could live with Steyer or Porter if they won, Becerra is a great person and candidate. Impressive resume, good political skills. It’s is surprising to see him so low in the polls. He may actually be the best suited for the job.

[SocialDemocrat61]

17. Hopefully

[bottomofthehill]

20. Hopefully yes, but also statistically.