Former Rep. Tom Campbell (R-CA), who recently switched from the gubernatorial race to instead run for Senate against incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer, has now become the leader in the GOP Senate primary, according to the new Field Poll. The big loser for now is state Rep. Chuck DeVore, whose support has collapsed in the process.
The numbers: Campbell 30%, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina 25%, and DeVore 6%, with 39% undecided. Back in October, Fiorina had 21% and DeVore 20%, before Campbell entered the race. All three Republicans trail Boxer in the general election matches. Boxer leads Campbell by 48%-38%, leads Fiorina by 50%-35%, and leads DeVore by 51%-34%.
Campbell, a socially liberal and economically libertarian Republican, previously served in Congress from 1989-1993, then narrowly lost the Republican primary for Senate to run against Barbara Boxer in an open-seat race. He returned to Congress in a 1995 special election, then became the Republican nominee for Senate in 2000 against Dianne Feinstein, losing in a landslide.
Late Update: The Fiorina campaign sends us this statement:
“We continue to be encouraged by the polling in this race showing that Carly is a strong candidate both in the primary and in the general election and also showing that voters are highly unsatisfied with Barbara Boxer’s continued support for bigger government and higher taxes. Tom Campbell is a career politician who has run for statewide office now three times so you would have expected that his high name ID would have come through more strongly in this poll, and, once voters learn that Tom has spent the last five years supporting increased government spending, higher taxes and now refuses to commit to not voting for more tax increases in the Senate we expect his numbers to fall fast, just like Martha Coakley’s did in Massachusetts.”– Deputy Campaign Manager for Communications Julie Soderlund
