With less than a week to go before California's primary election, a new poll shows a pair of front-runners in the race for governor.
The latest Public Policy Institute of California survey of likely voters has Democrat Xavier Becerra leading the field at 23 percent. Republican Steve Hilton is right behind at 20 percent. Five candidates polled in double digits, with Tom Steyer, Chad Bianco, and Katie Porter rounding out the top five.
Mark Baldassare is the survey director at the non-partisan PPIC. He says this is an unusual race.
"The fact that we've had so many candidates. The fact that there have been questions about will there be two Republicans among the top two possibly. And of course, the fact that we had one of the leading candidates drop out a few months ago."
About seven in ten likely voters say they’re following the race closely. The top two finishers will move on to the November general election, regardless of party.
But Baldassare says the big question for likely voters is….
"How many of them are actually going to turn in their ballots? That I think is a big question mark."
Election Day is Tuesday, and mailed ballots must be postmarked by then. Voters can also drop their ballots off at county elections offices, vote centers, or ballot drop boxes.