Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton are on top in a new poll in California, which doesn’t vote until June but has a huge number of delegates at stake for both races.
Mr. Trump lead with 40 percent, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz at 32 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 17 percent in the SurveyUSA poll released Tuesday of likely GOP primary voters in California.
The poll showed that Mr. Trump’s held an advantage despite very high negative ratings by California voters overall and especially among women and Hispanics.
Donald Trump is viewed extremely unfavorably by half of California’s registered voters and by 15 percent of Republicans most likely to vote in the state’s June 7 GOP Primary, according to the survey.
The pollsters noted that Mr. Trump has high negative ratings form women and Hispanics in California, 71 percent and 75 percent negative, respectively.
“But even with this anchor tied to his foot, Trump at this hour continues to lead Ted Cruz, though narrowly, among likely Republican primary voters,” they said.
On the Democratic side, the same poll showed Mrs. Clinton ahead of Sen. Bernard Sanders 53 percent to 39 percent.
Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton are front-runners for their party’s nomination but facing spirited challenges that could drag into their party conventions this summer.
California, which votes June 7, could be critical to Mr. Trump’s quest for the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination and avoid a contested convention.
The state has 172 delegates GOP delegates and 475 Democratic delegates.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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