Poll: Whitman trails Brown by double digits

No California gubernatorial candidate has won after trailing by 10 points this close to election day in 50 years

By Samantha Young

Published October 28, 2010 2:15PM (EDT)

FILE - This Oct. 25, 2010 file photo shows California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman at a campaign stop in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Whitman, conducting the most expensive campaign for governor in U.S. history _ nearly $172 million and counting _ is inundating California voters with an unprecedented array of TV and radio ads, glossy magazines, smartphone messages, Facebook videos, postcards and phone calls that will test how far a Republican dollar can go in a state Democrats call their own. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File) (AP)
FILE - This Oct. 25, 2010 file photo shows California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman at a campaign stop in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Whitman, conducting the most expensive campaign for governor in U.S. history _ nearly $172 million and counting _ is inundating California voters with an unprecedented array of TV and radio ads, glossy magazines, smartphone messages, Facebook videos, postcards and phone calls that will test how far a Republican dollar can go in a state Democrats call their own. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File) (AP)

A new poll shows Democrat Jerry Brown with a double-digit lead over Republican Meg Whitman less than a week before voters decide who will be California's next governor.

The Field Poll released Thursday found the former two-term governor leading the former eBay CEO 49 percent to 39 percent among likely voters.

It is the third poll released in the past week showing Brown leading a race considered too close to call a month ago.

A political expert at California State University, Los Angeles says no California gubernatorial candidate in the last 50 years has won after trailing by such a margin this close to an election.

The poll surveyed 1,092 likely voters by telephone Oct. 14-26. It has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.


By Samantha Young

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