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Harris, Schiff hold commanding leads in California

By Caroline Vakil - 10/16/24, 9:27 AM EDT

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Vice President Harris and Senate candidate Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) hold wide leads over their Republican rivals in their respective races, according to new polling out of California.

Polling from Emerson College Polling, Inside California Politics and The Hill released Wednesday found Harris, a California native, leading former President Trump in the race for the White House in the state, at 59 percent support to 35 percent, with more than 2 percent choosing someone else and close to 4 percent undecided.

When factoring in undecided voters who are asked whom they’re leaning toward, Harris sits at 61 percent while Trump is close to 37 percent.

“Since the September California poll, the margin between Trump and Harris has stayed the same at 24 points,” noted Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, in a press release.

“Including who undecided voters are leaning toward, Harris’ 61% is slightly underperforming Joe Biden’s 2020 vote, of 63.5%, and Trump’s 37% is slightly overperforming his 2020 vote, of 34.3%.”

Meanwhile, the polling found that 56 percent chose Schiff in the California Senate race to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), while 33 percent chose Republican Steve Garvey and 11 percent said they were undecided.

Both Harris and Schiff are widely expected to win the Democratic stronghold of California in November, and the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates Feinstein’s seat, which is being filled in the interim by Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), as “solid Democrat.”

The polling from Emerson College Polling, Inside California Politics and The Hill was conducted Oct. 12-14 with 1,000 likely voters surveyed. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.

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