As California heads toward its November governor’s race, voters say the state’s high cost of living is the most urgent issue, according to a new poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. Forty-four percent of likely voters named reducing living costs as their top priority, outpacing responding to Trump administration policies at 37%.
The survey found that taxes, at 24%, and job creation, at 16%, trailed behind. For many Californians, the issue is broad-based, with household costs rising across groceries, gasoline, electricity and health care.
In the governor’s race, Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra, a former U.S. health and human services secretary, leads Republican Steve Hilton 58% to 33% among likely voters, a 25-point margin. That is up slightly from the August poll, with Becerra gaining 3 points and Hilton falling 4 points.
Hilton has centered his campaign on lowering gas prices and cutting income taxes, but the poll suggests economic concerns are not yet driving major defections from Democratic voters. More than 60% of undecided voters said the cost of living is their top issue, setting up a closing stretch in which both candidates are likely to compete heavily on economic promises.
