If you’re following the California gubernatorial and senatorial races, then odds are you already know about the latest poll by the Public Policy Institute of California.

It’s not such terrible news for Republican Carly Fiorina, who trails U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer by seven points (42%-35%) — the same margin as a month ago, per PPIC.

That’s a weak number for an incumbent. If the Republican turnout is stronger than expected, while the Democratic ground game struggles, this race could go late into the night.

But it is bad new for Republican gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman, who’s now down by eight points to Attorney General Jerry Brown(44%-36%). A month ago, PPIC gave Whitman a 1-point lead.

I don’t want to waste your time deconstructing PPIC’s numbers. KQED’s always-insightful Jon Myers has a nice summary of the results, as do Cal Buzz co-editors Phil Troustine and Jerry Roberts. Meanwhile, over at Fox & Hounds, Joel Fox tells us not to give up on the good ship Whitman.

I’ve read though the numbers. And, for all the attention given to Meg Whitman’s disconnect with Latino voters (she gets only 22% of that bloc, making for a 29% deficit), it’s another group that surprised me:

California women.

Continue reading Bill Whalen at Politi-Cal

overlay image