Meg Whitman's Ad Campaign Helps Her Keep Lead in California Governor's Race

Republican Meg Whitman, the former eBay chief executive, is running ahead of state Attorney General Jerry Brown by 44 percent to 41 percent, with 2 percent preferring another candidate and 14 percent undecided, according to a Los Angeles Times/USC poll conducted March 23-30. The margin of error is 2.6 points.

Two other polls conducted earlier in March -- by Field and the Public Policy Institute of California -- had Whitman ahead by 3 points and 5 points, respectively.

The Times/USC poll said Whitman is riding a surge fueled by "a blistering pace of recent television advertising" made possible by an infusion of $39 million of her own money into the campaign.

Two-thirds of those polled said they had seen a political ad this year and an overwhelming majority of them had seen one of Whitman's. Fifty-three percent of those who had seen her ads backed Whitman over Brown. The ads have also catapulted Whitman from an unknown outside the business world to a standing where 6 in 10 Californians can now identify her.

Brown's strength has been the loyalty of fellow Democrats, who outnumber Republicans in the state by a large margin.

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