Former California Democratic Rep. Katie Porter has dropped by six points in the state's 2026 governor's race, according to a Berkeley Institute for Government Studies (IGS) poll released Friday that now shows Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco leading.
Porter, leader in polls since August has fallen from 17% to 11%, while Bianco has risen from 10% to 13%. IGS survey They included six other Democrats, but none received more than 3% support, with the exceptions of former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Becerra came in third with 8%, down one point from August, followed by Republican candidate Steve Hilton, who was up two points and also at 8%. Meanwhile, 5% of voters said they would support another candidate, while 44% were undecided.
Among those surveyed, 23% had a positive view of Bianco, 26% had a negative view and 51% had no opinion. Porter's favorability was 26%, with 33% having an unfavorable view of her and 41% having no opinion.
In response to the new data, Bianco told the Daily Caller News Foundation that California voters “need a sheriff” and appealed to California's Democratic governor. Gavin Newsome for wasting taxpayers' money. (RELATED: Democratic Rep. With Anger Issues Refuses to Say Whether Videos of Her Staff Being Harassed Still Exist)
“Sacramento has more crime than any other city because Gavin Newsom and his cohorts steal from Californians,” Bianco told DCNF.
“They spend billions to fund government programs for illegal immigrants, to fund political power.[r]abs, are building a new government temple with little to no oversight, while there is no money for first responders, families trying to rebuild their lives, or tax breaks for families,” Bianco added. “Californians need a sheriff as the next governor to restore sanity to Sacramento.”
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
The survey follows a string of negative headlines about Porter, including viral videos criticizing the reporter and former employees.
CBS News California's Julie Watts interview is out now. popular On Oct. 7, after Porter quit, when asked how she planned to reach the 40% of the state's voters who supported President Donald Trump, briefly responding that she “didn't need” Trump voters “to win.”
Watts attempted to challenge Porter on the issue, but the former Democratic representative began repeatedly objecting. Ultimately, Porter said she was ending the interview, adding that she was no longer having a “nice, positive conversation.”
Just a day later, Politico published resurfaced 2021 video of Porter yelling at a staffer during an online conversation with then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and shouting, “Get out of my f***ing shot!” during filming.
Porter did not respond to DCNF's request for comment.
The IGS poll was conducted online in English and Spanish Oct. 20-27 among 8,141 registered California voters. IGS collected data by sending email and text message invitations to stratified random samples of registered state voters. The margin of sampling error is approximately ±2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
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