THE INDEPENDENT AND NON-PARTISAN STATEWIDE SURVEY OF
PUBLIC OPINION ESTABLISHED IN 1947 BY MERVIN D. FiElD.
234 Front Street
San Francisco 94111
(415l392-5763
COPYRIGHT 1982 BY THE FIELD INSTITUTE. FOR PUBLICATION BY SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.
Release date:
Release #1175
BRADLEY AND BROWN LEADS
DIMINISHED BUT STILL
COMFORTABLE. BOTH LOSE
GROUND TO PROSPECTIVE
NOVEMBER RIVALS
by Mervin D. Field
Dipectop, The California Poll
Friday, June 4, 1982
IMPORTANT: Contract for this service is
subject to revocation if publication or
broadcast takes place before release date
or if contents of report are divulged to
persons outside of subscriber staff prior
to release time.
(ISSN 0195-4520)
Tom Bradley and Jerry Brown are each still holding comfortable
leads in the Democratic Gubernatorial and Senatorial primary races but
their margins over their respective challengers have narrowed in recent
weeks.
In early May, Bradley's level of support was 75% and has since
dropped to 62%.
In early May, Brown's support was 59%, whereas at the
present time it is 46%.
These findings are based on a statewide sample of 429 "likely"
voters (those who say they are registered to vote as Democrats and
maintain that they are certain to go to the polls next Tuesday) .
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR'S RACE--STATEWIDE
June
-%­
~
%
March
--%­
January
%
Bradley
62
75
66
58
Garamendi
11
11
Obledo
15
5
2
7
2
6
5
Others
3
*
15
16
11
14
16
Undecided
*Less than 0.5%
DEMOCRATIC SENATE RACE--STATEWIDE
June
-%­
~
%
March
--%­
January
%
57
10
51
*
8
8
13
9
2
12
8
2
15
9
4
Brown
46
59
Vidal
Carpenter
12
9
11
Whitehurst
Others
7
4
No opinion
22
23
*Not measured
The California Poll has operated continuously since 1947 as an independent, impartial media sponsored public opinion news service. The Poll is one of the
services provided by The Field Institute, a non·profit, non·partisan organization devoted to the stUdy of pUblic opinion and behavior on social and political
issues. The Field Institute is dedicated to encouraging the widest possible dissemination of social survey findings to the public and for the public benefit.
The Institute receives its support from academic, governmental, media, and private sources.
.
The California Poll
111175
page two
Another negative but more foreboding development for Bradley and
Brown assuming they win their respective primaries is that both can­
didates have lost ground to their prospective GOP rivals in simulated
November general election pairings.
Bradley's lead over Republican George Deukrnejian has dropped from 13
points to just five in the last few weeks.
Republican Mike Curb, who was
trailing Bradley by 17 points early in May, is now behind by 12 points.
Brown now trails Pete Wilson, the leader in the GOP gubernatorial
primary by 22 points.
Pete McCloskey, who is now in second place in the GOP
senatorial primary, leads Brown by 25 points.
Barry Goldwater, Jr., who has
dropped to third place in the GOP Senate race, leads Brown by 12 points.
POSSIBLE GUBERNATORIAL GENERAL ELECTION PAIRINGS
All Voters--Statewide
March
June
January
~
-%­
-%­
!
!
Bradley
49
52
50
Deukrnejian
44
39
40
39
7
9
10
11
Bradley
53
55
55
55
Curb
Undecided
41
38
38
36
6
7
7
9
undecided
50
POSSIBLE SENATORIAL GENERAL ELECTION PAIRINGS
All Voters--Statewide
June
May
March
January
-%­
~
-%-
Wilson
!
52
51
51
57
35
40
39
38
8
8
10
11
McCloskey
58
55
53
56
Brown
33
36
36
35
Undecided
9
9
11
9
Goldwater
51
50
51
55
Brown
39
10
42
41
38
8
8
7
Brown
Undecided
Undecided
Voter preferences expressed in this survey for the candidates included
in the simulated November general election pairings were weighted to reflect
anticipated voter turn-out.
The following weights were used:
52%, Republican 39%, and nine percent for others.
-30­
Democrat