What if the Open Primary were used for the Governor’s Race in June?
What if Proposition 14 was already the law and all candidates in the June primary could receive the votes of any voter? At Datamar Surveys we decided to ask that question in relation to the governor’s race.
We asked 794 high propensity voters which gubernatorial candidate they would vote for in the June primary and offered the three major candidates, telling the respondents they could vote for anyone they chose.
The results: Meg Whitman 29.1%; Jerry Brown 25.1%; Steve Poizner 20.5%. Undecided was right in the mix at 25.4%.
There are a large number of Democrats and Liberals who are expressing a choice for Steve Poizner. We attribute this to two factors. First, Jerry Brown thus far appears to have employed a wait-and-see strategy and is content to let Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner battle for the Republican nomination. Second, we believe that Democrats and Liberals are expressing a sentiment not for any candidate in particular but against Meg Whitman.
Voters Undecided On Solutions To California’s Economic Problems
Datamar Surveys questioned California voters on a variety of issues regarding the state of the economy and political sentiments. The findings reveal an embittered and weary electorate and one that is looking for alternative ways to reform the state’s political process and turn the economy around.
The economy is the number one issue of concern for the voters topping budget cuts by a two to one margin. Responsibility for California’s problems was evenly divided by the 794 respondents to the poll. 30.9% gave responsibility to Democrats in the Legislature; 25.7% to Special Interests; 18.4% to Governor Schwarzenegger; and 17% to Republican in the Legislature.
Trust in the state government is at 10.5%.
Voter Turnout Analysis shows that Republicans have some work to do
Datamar Surveys released an analysis of the vote in the February California Presidential Primary election. The study analyzes the total voter turnout for the election as well as a breakdown of the Hispanic and Non-Hispanic voters.
Datamar estimates that 18.8% of the voters at the election were Hispanic and they heavily favored the Democrats. Of that segment of the electorate, 63% voted Democratic and only 20% voted Republican.
In fact, the percentage of Hispanic voters who voted Democratic was higher than the percentage of Non-Partisan Non-Hispanic voters who took part in the election.
Clearly, Republicans have work to do to make inroads into the Hispanic vote to win elections in California.
Click Here to see the entire California Presidential Primary Voter Turnout Analysis.