The spread was only 5% last time with a very conservative Republican candidate, and the winner of this October's election will likely have a much smaller share of the vote than last time. For such a sunny, plentiful state, California sure has a lot of desperate pessimists.
...against a man so hated he's facing a recall election only nine months later. The only reason Simon even came close is because the voters' disgust with Davis was already overwhelming even then.