The new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California shows former eBay CEO Meg Whitman’s lead in the Republican gubernatorial primary plummeting, though she retains an advantage over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.
The numbers: Whitman 38%, Poizner 29%. The survey of likely GOP primary voters has a ±5% margin of error. Back in March, Whitman led by a whopping 61%-11%. The TPM Poll Average gives Whitman a lead over Poizner of 39.1%-29.2% in the GOP primary, down from a seemingly overwhelming Whitman lead as recently as March.
Whitman’s support has fallen in large part due to Democratic attacks over her connections to Goldman Sachs — the Dems would prefer to face Poizner in the fall. There may also have been a backlash against her big personal spending on the race, which has reached $68 million so far, and a tightly controlled media operation in which she has avoided directly answering questions from reporters about the issues — a fact that is frequently noted in media reports.
