A new poll shows Republican candidates Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco leading in California’s primary race, raising concerns for Democrats about a potential lockout.

CALIFORNIA, USA — Only months away from the California primary, a prominent poll shows two Republican candidates leading the field.

Businessman Steve Hilton and former Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco have both seen support grow, according to the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies’ March poll. Hilton received 17% of the vote, and Bianco 16%.

The number of democratic candidates continues to split the vote. Eric Swalwell and Katie Porter both had 13%, and Tom Steyer received 10%, with five other candidates polling at 5% or less. 

California has not elected a Republican to a statewide position since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2008.

If these results hold, the two Republican candidates would be sent to the general election under California’s jungle primary. This has been a point of concern for the California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks. 

He penned an open letter to the democratic candidates earlier this month, urging them to assess their viability and to drop out of the race to prevent a potential lockout. The only candidate to drop out before the filing deadline was Ian Calderon.

The poll also found that Californians are not favorable overall, as no candidate has a favorability rating above 40% among those surveyed.

According to the institute, the poll was conducted between March 9 and 15 among 5,019 registered voters in California, 3,889 of whom are considered likely to vote in the state’s June primary election.

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