CA Gov. Race: Whitman’s Lead Collapses
BY John McCormack
May 10, 2010 5:34 PM
Less than three weeks ago, a SurveyUSA poll showed Meg Whitman leading Republican rival Steve Poizner by 22 points in the GOP gubernatorial primary. The OC Register reports that lead has dropped to two points:
Not long ago Meg Whitman had such a huge lead – 50 points – over Steve Poizner for the GOP nomination for governor, many folks thought the race was over and started sizing up her chances against the Democrats’ Jerry Brown.
When she came in to talk to our Editorial Board last week, Whitman brushed off news that some polls showed Poizner had closed the gap to about 10 points. Still 10 points isn’t anything to scoff at, especially with only a little more than a month before the polls open.
Well, this week ABC’s SurveyUSA poll shows that Poizner is now 2 points behind her – 39 percent to 37 percent.
Will Whitman be the first candidate to be defeated because of her opposition to the Arizona immigration law?
After initially expressing concerns about the immigration law, Steve Poizner gave the Arizona law his full backing. Ben Smith notes that Poizner has been hammering Whitman on the issue lately:
If Poizner take over the CA GOP, we’ll look back at Schwarzenegger as an ultraconservative. I can’t believe “conservatives” are actually pushing a candidate who would be the most left wing candidate in CA history. Don’t complain to me when you lose your job to an illegal or companies fleeing the state.