Brown Is Strongest Governor Prospect in California Field

California Attorney General Jerry Brown leads San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom by a commanding 47 percent to 27 percent with 26 percent undecided in a match-up for the Democratic nomination for governor, but the picture is cloudier on the Republican side where 49 percent of voters are undecided, according to a Field poll conducted Sept. 18 - Oct. 5.

The biggest difference-maker in this poll is age and region. Voters in the 18-to-39 group favor Newsom by 41 percent to 32 percent while voters between 40 and 64 support Brown by 51 percent to 21 percent and those over 65 by 62 percent to 17 percent. The balance of voters in each group are undecided. Brown leads in southern California by 50 percent to 19 percent and by 43 percent to 38 percent in northern California.

Newsom has announced and Brown has started an exploratory committee.

Earlier this year there was a larger field of potential candidates, but they have either decided not to run or have not signaled an indication that they would. However, if one of them, three-term Sen. Dianne Feinstein is included in the match-up, she leads by 40 percent to Brown's 27 percent and 16 percent for Newsom, with 17 percent undecided.

Looking at the three announced Republican candidates for their party's nomination, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman narrowly leads former Rep. Tom Campbell by 22 percent to 20 percent with state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner bringing up the rear with 9 percent with all the rest undecided.

Even though the three have been campaigning, the large undecided numbers stem from the fact that they are not nearly as well known as their Democratic counterparts. Sixty-eight percent don't know enough about Whitman to offer a favorable or unfavorable opinion and there are similar results for Campbell (59 percent) and Poizner (61 percent).

So, it is not surprising that either Brown or Newsom leads any of the Republican hopefuls in general election match-ups, although Brown does noticeably better. Brown leads Whitman 50 percent to 29 percent, Campbell by 48 percent to 27 percent and Poizner by 50 percent to 25 percent. Newsom leads Whitman 40 percent to 31 percent, Campbell by 38 percent to 33 percent and Poizner by 39 percent to 30 percent. The remaining balance of voters in each match-up are undecided.