Schiff edges out Porter in California Senate race poll

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) edged out Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) in one of the first polls conducted in the race to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who announced her retirement earlier this month.

Schiff received 22 percent of support in the University of California, Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll, with Porter garnering 20 percent — a difference that is within the poll’s 2.5-point margin of error.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who launched her campaign for the seat earlier this week, polled at 6 percent and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is rumored to be considering a bid, came in at 4 percent.

But the poll also found that there is a lot of room for change in these numbers, with around 40 percent of voters saying they were undecided on who they would support in the primary. In California primaries, voters choose from candidates in each party and the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to a general election.

The early indications of a tight race between Schiff and Porter come as the two lawmakers, who both have national name recognition, start a primary battle that is falling along ideological fault lines in the party. Officials in California also see the campaign dividing along lines of race, gender and identity.

The poll of 7,512 registered California voters, which only questioned Democrats and independents, also found that there is a generational split in the race, with voters over the age of 50 strongly supporting Schiff, a more moderate Democrat who formerly chaired the House Intelligence Committee and served a prominent role in the first impeachment of then-President Trump, and younger voters standing in staunch support of Porter, a progressive who has more than once gone viral for her harsh questioning of committee hearing witnesses.

Lee and Khanna did not poll at above 8 percent or 5 percent, respectively, in any age category.

No prominent Republican has yet jumped into the race.