With more than three months to go before the June 2 nonpartisan primary that will determine which two candidates face off to succeed Democrat Gavin Newsom as governor of California, a Republican stands on top of the heap, according to a new poll.
The Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics survey showed Republican Steve Hilton with the largest share of support at 17 percent,Emerson College Pollingreported.
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell received 14 percent support in the survey, the same support level as Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican.
Former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter received 10 percent support, and tycoon Tom Steyer was at 9 percent support. The biggest chunk of responses were undecided voters, at 21 percent.
Republican Steve Hilton rockets to lead in California governor’s racehttps://t.co/1s4gf94wGlpic.twitter.com/PRbQzPHUb9
— New York Post (@nypost)February 18, 2026
“The Republican electorate in California is split between Steve Hilton (38 percent) and Chad Bianco (37 percent), while Hilton also picks up a plurality of independent voter support at 22 percent,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
“Democratic voters have not yet clearly coalesced around one candidate: 23 percent of Democrats support Eric Swalwell, 14 percent support Porter, 12 percent Steyer and 22 percent are undecided,” he said.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Feb.13 and Feb. 14 and had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Emerson noted that since a December survey, undecided voters dipped from 31 percent to 21 percent, while support for Hilton and Steyer increased by five points each. Swalwell saw a two-point increase while Porter’s support dropped by a point. Bianco, who at 13 percent support was atop the December survey, gained one point in the new survey.
Source: VidNews » Feed
