Former Vice President Kamala Harris would enjoy a wide lead over the rest of the field if she were to enter the 2026 race for California governor, according to an Inside California Politics/Emerson College poll released Thursday.
The survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted April 12-14 and included 18 hypothetical candidates for the June 2026 primary.
It found 31% of those who plan to vote would support Harris if she were to enter the race. Fellow Democrat Katie Porter follows with 8%, while 4% support Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican.
“How competitive the 2026 gubernatorial primary in California is depends on whether Harris runs. Other candidacies, like Katie Porter’s, are contingent on whether the former vice president enters the race,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. “Harris garners 49% of Democrats, while Porter gets 13%. Without Harris in the race, Porter’s support among Democrats rises to 21%, which would make her an early frontrunner in a crowded field.”
Voters, however, are split on whether Harris should run. Fifty percent said the former California attorney general and U.S. senator should enter the race, and 50% said she should not.
Other Issues
The poll also asked voters to weigh in on several other topics, including Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political future, President Trump’s tariff wars, and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed said Newsom should not run for president in 2028, while 41% think he should. When broken down by party affiliation, 61% of registered Democrats think Newsom should run, while 78% of Republicans and 75% of independents think he should not.
California voters generally see the president’s tariffs as more of a tax on the consumer than a tax on trade partners, 60% to 22%, according to the poll. Eighteen percent view it as neither.
Once again, party affiliation shifts the numbers.
“A majority of Democrats, 77%, and half of independent voters see tariffs as more of a tax on the consumer, while 48% of Republican voters see them as more of a tax on the foreign country,” Kimball added.
Regarding the 2028 L.A. Summer Games, 32% are very interested in the games, 44% are somewhat interested, and 24% are not interested at all, the poll found.
A majority of California voters (58%) would want to see the Olympic Games in person if they could afford it, while 42% would not.
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