According to the latest poll released on August 21, Democratic candidate Katie Porter and Republican candidate Chad Bianco are the leading contenders to succeed the outgoing California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The survey, conducted by institutions such as Politico from July 28 to August 12, randomly sampled 1,445 voters. Former federal congresswoman Katie Porter from Irvine, who originally had the support of voters backing Kamala Harris, received the largest share of support at 30%. Harris announced on July 30 that she would not be running in the 2026 gubernatorial election.
California employs the so-called “Jungle primary” system, which allows candidates from all parties to compete together, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the general election.
According to the poll, Porter garnered support from 21% of voters, while Riverside County Sheriff Bianco received 15% support. Porter is the only Democrat among the top three candidates, and her campaign team has not responded to the poll. Bianco’s campaign team stated that the poll indicates California voters are looking for “a new type of leader.”
Erica Melendrez, Bianco’s campaign manager, said in a statement provided to the media that Sheriff Bianco leads with integrity and voters trust him to truthfully inform Californians. The statement mentioned, “The sheriff, with 30 years of experience in local law enforcement, is the only Republican capable of winning the statewide race.”
Ranking third is another Republican, former Fox News host Steve Hilton, who announced his candidacy in April and received support from 10% of voters.
It is not surprising that the Republicans took two out of the top three spots, as out of the 11 gubernatorial candidates listed in the survey, nine are Democrats. According to data from the California Secretary of State as of February this year, Democrats maintained a strong lead with 45% of registered voters, while Republicans accounted for 25%.
Hilton’s campaign team has not commented on the poll results.