Republican leads Democrats in race for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat: poll

A new poll shows Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Early taking a lead over Democratic candidates entering California’s 2024 primary race to replace Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.

The poll, conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute for Government Studies, showed Early is slightly ahead of Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, with the Republican receiving 18% support from likely primary voters.

Feinstein said in February she would not seek re-election in 2024 and pledged to complete the remainder of her term, despite recent calls for her to step down over concerns about her mental and physical well-being. The 89-year-old senator had missed dozens of Senate votes as she recovered from shingles.

The shingles infection triggered an inflammation of the brain known as encephalitis and a facial paralysis known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome, raising concerns that his office will not reveal the severity of his illness to the public during his absence. When Feinstein returned to the Capitol on May 10, she needed a wheelchair due to temporary vision and balance problems caused by the infection, according to the senator.

The UC Berkeley poll showed other Democratic candidates such as Rep. Adam Schiff received 14% voter support and Rep. Barbara Lee at 9%, while 42% of those polled said they were either undecided. , or that they were planning to vote for someone else. Those results would likely change when Democrats coalesce around a candidate in a state with majority Democratic voters.

The survey was conducted May 17-22 in English and Spanish among 7,465 registered California voters, including 5,236 considered likely to vote in the primary, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. .

Newsweek contacted the California Democratic Party via email for comment.

Early announced his candidacy for the Senate seat in April in a bid to campaign for the votes of “forgotten” California residents who are struggling with rising crime and drug use, high taxes and an agenda” extreme left” within the government. , according to his campaign website.

“As the next U.S. Senator, Eric will oppose the woke socialist interests that control Washington, DC, fight to preserve and protect our democracy, and fight for ordinary Californians who are being left behind,” his campaign description reads.

The Republican candidate lost in the race for state attorney general in 2022 and 2018, and lost the general election for the U.S. House California District 28 seat in 2020, according to Ballotpedia.

Mark DiCamillo, pollster and director of the Institute of Governmental Studies, told the Los Angeles Times that Early’s lead is primarily due to his Republican affiliation.

“It could have been John Smith. You put the Republican tag next to the name, and they’re going to win over the Republicans who support them,” DiCamillo said. “It just opens up the dynamics of the race to one where we really think about the possibility of a Democrat against a Republican overall – or will two Democrats make it to the top?”

DiCamillo said it’s possible for a Democrat to face a Republican in the next race, even though the 2016 and 2018 Senate elections featured two Democrats competing in the general election.

“…whoever that Democrat is, I’m sure they support that outcome because the election is pretty much over if that happens,” he said.