California governor poll raises prospect of two Republicans contesting runoff

Survey puts Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco ahead with Democratic vote split between large field of candidates Republicans continue to lead the California governor’s race amid a crowded field of Democrats, a new poll commissioned by the state’s Democratic party found, fueling concerns of a conservative win in the famously liberal state. The party on Tuesday published the results of a large-scale poll of 2,000 likely voters conducted by Evitarus Research that revealed that 16% of participants would back the conservative political commentator Steve Hilton in the upcoming primary, while 14% would support Chad Bianco, the Riverside county sheriff. Meanwhile, three Democrats were in a dead heat. Congressman Eric Swalwell, former Representative Katie Porter and billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer each had support from 10% of people surveyed. The results were somewhat similar to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released last week in which Hilton and Bianco were in the lead with 17% and 16% respectively, while Swalwell had 14%, Porter came in with 13% and Steyer had 10%. “Voters remain largely disengaged and unenthusiastic about the candidates and the election,”