A new poll from UC Berkeley has found California voters overwhelmingly believe Gov. Gavin Newsom is more focused on doing things that help his presidential candidacy than actually governing, by a ratio of two-to-one.
“By a greater than two-to-one margin (54% to 26%), most voters believe that as Newsom serves out his final two years as governor, he is devoting more of his attention to things that might benefit himself as a possible candidate for president than governing the state and helping to solve its problems,” wrote Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies.
Eighty-three percent of Republicans, 52% of independents and 40% of Democrats agreed that Newsom was prioritizing his presidential run, while just 6%, of Republicans, 22% of independents and 41% of Democrats felt Newsom is focused on “governing the state and helping to solve its problems.”
The poll also explored Californians’ attitude on the state’s direction and governance, and the impact of President Donald Trump’s policies on the state.
Newsom’s job approval is largely unchanged from January, with a 3% decline in those who strongly approve of his leadership and a 3% decline in those who strongly disapprove.
Sixty-four percent of Californians believe Trump tariffs will have a negative impact on California businesses and agriculture, while 20% say it will have a positive impact.
Californians believed the Trump administration will have a negative impact on California’s taxpayer-funded Medi-Cal program, illegal immigrants, climate change, public K-12 schools and higher education, water and public high speed rail by a broad two-to-one margin.
Of the polled state issues, Californians were only closely matched in the positive and negative impact of Trump policies on the state’s oil and gas industry, with 35% predicting a negative impact, 32% a positive impact and 33% having a mixed impact or no opinion.
Based on the polling questions, it’s unclear if voters with negative feelings toward the oil and gas industry answered that Trump administration policies that could have a positive impact on the industry are on the net bad for the state.
