Environmentalist billionaire and Democrat Tom Steyer is only polling at 4 percent in the early stages of the 2018 race for California governor, according to a University of California poll.
The poll shows Steyer trailing Gavin Newsom, the state’s current Democratic Lieutenant Governor. Newsom currently leads the poll of 10 potential and declared candidates with 24 percent of the vote. In an October poll by the same organization, Steyer received 5 percent of the vote, suggesting his support is leveling off.
While Steyer has never formally said he is running for governor of California, he has organized a “shadow campaign” for governor, and is widely expected to seek the office in 2018. One of his biggest advantages is that he has enough personal wealth to self-fund a campaign.
However, the 2018 election is very far away, and public campaigning has not yet started in earnest. The poll could primarily be an indicator of name recognition. And, of course, the election of President Donald Trump may have changed Steyer’s mind.
The survey polled 1,000 registered voters in California between March 13 and 20. The poll was conducted in both English and Spanish and has a margin of error in either direction of 3.6 percent.
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