Results of a poll conducted from October 10 through October 12 showed that probable California Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox has three times the support among likely voters over the party’s other likely candidate, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.

Republican likely voters are solidly behind Cox, according to the poll. Poll respondents were asked the question:

It’s a long ways away, but the Primary Election for California Governor will be held in 2022. If the election for Governor were held today, for whom would you vote? Choose One.

Among Republican likely voters, 75.7 percent chose Cox, while just 17.3 percent chose Faulconer. That proportion was consistent throughout California, including Faulconer’s Southern California base. Cox also lives in San Diego and was the state’s 2018 gubernatorial nominee, so Faulconer can’t count on that area as a strong base of support.

The state’s large group of “independent” voters also decisively chose Cox over Faulconer, 27 percent versus 15 percent.

Sadly, 58.4 percent of all likely voters polled would still choose Gavin Newsom if the primary election were held today, despite his massive failures in handling the coronavirus pandemic. This shows that the Governor’s attempts to deflect blame to President Trump are still somewhat effective and highlights the uphill battle either candidate has in running against him in 2022. Fortunately for California Republicans, they’ve still got time to craft a compelling message against Newsom, and Newsom has more time to screw things up.

J. Wallin Research conducted the poll in which 800 likely November 2020 general election voters (PDI universe 20G5B) were contacted via mobile, landline, and text-to-online methods and lists a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

(Updated 2/21/21 to reflect the number of voters contacted, the methods of contact used, and the margin of error.)