2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) still cannot find her footing in her home state of California.
In the latest poll, she landed in fourth while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) landed in second place.
California has become a significant factor in the Democratic primary since the government moved the primary to Super Tuesday on March 3.
The UC Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll still has former President Joe Biden in first place at 22%, but Warren (D-MA) surged to second at 18%. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sits in third at 17%.
Harris is only at 13%, which placed her in fourth. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg landed in fifth at 10% while everyone else failed to top 3%. From The Los Angeles Times:
Harris draws consistent support from across demographic groups and ideological lines and is widely cited as a second choice by voters, but she has no constituency that she dominates, the poll found.Although Biden leads the race, he’s far from a commanding front-runner in the state that will send the largest group of delegates to next year’s Democratic nominating convention. Biden has support from 22% of likely Democratic primary voters, the poll found. That’s similar to his level in a recent poll of voters in Iowa, which holds the first contest of the primary season, but well below his standing in some national surveys.
The poll provided Harris with some good news since 21% of the respondents chose her “as their second choice.” But Warren follows closely at 17%. Harris also “performed well across ethnic and demographic groups.”
But Warren leapfrogged everyone into second place as her image continues to grow nationwide. Over 6,000 people attended an appearance in Oakland the night before the California Democratic Party convention. She received the most attention out of other presidential candidates at a party in San Francisco with 5,000 delegates.
Harris has struggled in California polls since she announced her candidacy in January. An April Quinnipiac University Poll had Harris in third (17%) behind Biden (26%) and Sanders (18%).
On May 31, The Los Angeles Times pointed out Harris’s fall in the presidential race. The author noted that while she has won three races within California, not many know her:
Harris has won three statewide races, but remains a mystery to many at home. Surveys show nearly a quarter of California voters have no opinion of her job performance, suggesting they know little, if anything, about the state’s junior U.S. senator.That is not unusual, said pollster Mark DiCamillo.“You’re talking about 19 million registered voters in California, and for 19 million people to be universally aware of something you have to practically hit them over the head,” said DiCamillo, who has spent decades sampling voter attitudes in the state. “It’s not unusual for 15, 20, 30% of Californians to just be tuned out of politics.”
Of course, some Harris defenders blamed sexism:
Defenders — who see sexism at play — say Harris’ perceived skittishness was a result of competing pressures: conservative law enforcement officials on one side, who were naturally suspicious of a mixed-race woman from San Francisco, and left-leaning criminal justice reform advocates on the other. They note she was an early and ardent advocate of impeaching Trump, leaping out in front of many rivals.
A day later, the paper published letters to the editor in response to the article. One man said Harris does not perform well because she comes across as a centrist on social issues, will not question military spending, or go after Wall Street.
Another man lashed out at the sexism comment about “conservative law enforcement official.” He said he “strongly” disagrees with that statement after he served 41 years as a California law enforcement officer. He also cannot think of any other officer who “would agree with that biased, unsubstantiated statement” because the skepticism over Harris stems from her “spotty performance as district attorney in San Francisco and as California’s attorney general.”
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