Campbell Edging Fiorina in Race for GOP Senate Nod in California

Former Rep. Tom Campbell leads former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina by 29 percent to 25 percent in the race for California's Republican Senate nomination, with state Rep. Chuck DeVore way behind at 9 percent, according to a Los Angeles Times/USC poll conducted March 23-30. Four percent prefer another candidate and 33 percent are undecided with the June 8 primary election approaching.

For the general election, the poll matched Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, against only a generic Republican candidate. Boxer led, 48 percent to 34 percent, with 6 percent preferring someone else and 11 percent undecided.

When a previous poll, conducted in early March by the Public Policy Institute of California, matched Boxer against specific rivals, all the Republicans were running neck-and-neck with her.

The Times/USC poll found that conservatives were almost evenly split at 30 percent for Fiorina and 28 percent for Campbell, even though Fiorina has made a concerted effort to discredit Campbell for what she called his moderate-to-liberal social positions.

Boxer's approval-to-disapproval rating for her job performance was only 40 percent to 38 percent. But the Times points out that she only had 45 percent approval in 1998 when she won the general election by 10 points.

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