FIELD POLL: According to The Field Poll’s annual assessment of the economic well-being of Californians, 44% of registered voters now report that they are financially better off than they were last year, while 28% are worse off. Another 28% say there has been no change. This is the first time in seven years that more California voters have reported being financially better off than worse off compared to the prior year.
Headquarters of the state controller, Sacramento. (Photo: Coolcaesar)David Evans, a largely unknown Republican candidate in the race for state controller, emerged from obscurity and achieved stunning results on a $600 campaign budget against three established politicians, leaving analysts struggling to interpret the implications of the results.
ELECTION 2014: Dan Schnur, a veteran Republican who dropped his party preference three years ago, has worked for years behind the scenes for elected officials as a communications expert and political strategist. But now he wants to be an elected official himself: He is in a crowded field of contenders for secretary of state. The top two vote-getters will confront each other in the November general election.
State Capitol, Sacramento. Photo: WikimediaIn the aftermath of the corruption scandals now affecting three State Senators, California voters have changed their views about the performance of the Legislature. During the week immediately prior to Yee’s arrest, 46% of voters approved and 40% disapproved of the Legislature’s performance, a finding that showed continuing improvement from previous Field Polls conducted over the past two years.
Voter approval of the job that Democrat Jerry Brown is doing as Governor has reached a new high. At present, 59% of registered voters approve of his performance in office, nearly twice the proportion (32%) who disapprove. Brown also holds a huge preference lead when likely voters in the June open primary election are asked whom they would support if the election were being held today.
A stout beckons at a craft brewer's tasting. Photo: Maxy M., Shutterstock.A debate is brewing in Sacramento over regulating California beer. “There has been a concern that there has been inadequate enforcement staff available,” said Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata, whose district includes at least 15 breweries. The issue is whether the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has enough people to effectively regulate brewers, especially the increasingly popular craft brewing industry.
U.S. Senate election, 2012In little more than a decade, mail-in or “absentee” voting for statewide elections quadrupled, from 4.4 percent in 1978 to 18.4 percent in 1990, reflecting in part legal changes making it easier to vote absentee. Since the 1990s, mail-in ballots have increased exponentially. In the 2008 primary, 58 percent of the voters cast mail-in ballots, the first time in a California statewide election that mail-in ballots represented more than half the vote. In primaries since then, mail-in voting has risen steadily to a remarkable 65 percent in 2012. In the November 2012 general election, mail-in ballots accounted for about 51 percent. (Above: 2012 U.S. Senate election map/Kurykh, Wikimedia))
Among the findings: Dianne Feinstein’s approval ratings are on the decline and rank among the lowest she’s received in her 20 years in office. Barbara Boxer’s positives are on the rise. Meanwhile, more than four out of five Californians disapprove of the job Congress is doing, which is close to a record.
The Field Poll, in a survey completed last week, asked a statewide sample of California voters what they thought of these proposals. The results show that only one in four voters (25%) back the idea of having these counties break away from California to form a new state.
More California voters are becoming critical of the job Barack Obama is doing as President. The latest Field Poll finds that while 51% of California voters approve of the President’s overall performance, a growing proportion (43%) disapprove. This represents an increase of 8 percentage points in the proportion disapproving since July. While the growth in the number of Californians disapproving spans most demographic subgroups, some of the greatest increases have occurred among voter segments who have been among the President’s strongest supporters.