Poll: Feinstein leads progressive challenger by double-digits

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) leads her top progressive challenger by a double-digit margin, according to a new poll.

A new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found that Feinstein leads her challenger, California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D), 45 percent to 21 percent among likely voters. Thirty-three percent are undecided.

Feinstein has a commanding lead in every region of the state and has a more than 2-to-1 lead in de León’s home region of Los Angeles. Feinstein, a former mayor of San Francisco, also has a huge lead in the Bay area: 54 to 17 percent.

{mosads}Feinstein has been a long-time staple in California politics, but she has come under fire from progressives who argue she hasn’t held President Trump accountable. Many progressives and groups have rallied around de León since he entered the race.

But de León and any other Democrat looking to jump into the race will have an uphill battle since Feinstein has served in the Senate since 1992.

De León isn’t the only Democratic challenger trying to unseat Feinstein.

Justice Democrats, a group led by the progressive journalist Cenk Uygur, announced in early November they would support Alison Hartson (D), a community organizer and former teacher.

Democratic mega-donor and environmental activist Tom Steyer is also considering a bid. Steyer has been running a multimillion-dollar ad campaign encouraging Democrats to support impeaching Trump.

California features a top-two primary, where all candidates face off in a single primary, regardless of party affiliation. The top two finishers advance to a general election runoff.

The poll was conducted from Nov. 10 to 19 and surveyed 1,704 California residents by mobile phones and landlines. The crosstabs in the poll surveyed a group of 1,070 likely voters. The margin of error of that group was 4.3 percentage points.