California: If He Only Had Money

​Two new California statewide polls again show Democratic challenger Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles state Senator, pulling into range of veteran incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the double-Democratic general election.  According to Probolsky Research, a frequent California pollster, Sen. Feinstein leads Mr. de Leon only 41-35% in their most recent study (10/25-30; 900 CA registered voters).  Mr. de Leon, however, has little in the way of resources to compete in this most expensive of political states. 
 
The Probolsky survey finds 58% of Democrats, 28% of Republicans, and 30% from the Unaffiliated voter segment supporting Sen. Feinstein.  All of these numbers are weak in a double-Democratic field featuring a five-term incumbent against an underfunded challenger.  Most surprisingly, the poll projects Feinstein doing better among Hispanics, even though de Leon is from the community.  According to the research, Hispanics break 43-36% in the Senator’s favor.
 
The second poll comes from the University of California at Berkeley.  This study (10/19-25; 1,333 CA likely voters) produces a similar 45-36% ballot test split.  It appears Sen. Feinstein will be re-elected next week, but the pre-vote numbers continue to show she could have been primed for an upset against a stronger opponent.