California recall poll: Newsom backed by 58 percent of voters

Roughly 58 percent of registered voters in California say they would back Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) against a recall vote slated to take place next Tuesday, according to a new poll.

A Suffolk University poll released Wednesday, which surveyed 500 registered voters, found 41 percent of respondents said they are in favor of a recall, while 57.8 percent of those polled say they want Newsom to remain governor of California.

Just over half of those polled by Suffolk University said they approve of Newsom’s performance as governor while fewer that 40 percent did not approve.

Data from California Secretary of State’s office as of Monday shows that more than a quarter of ballots have been returned by California voters.

Recent polls seem to indicate that Newsom will likely be able to survive the attempt to remove him from office. Conservative radio host Larry Elder (R) is considered the GOP front-runner should the recall succeed. 

Vice President Harris is scheduled to campaign for Newsom on Wednesday to give the Democrat governor an added boost.

The results of the Suffolk poll largely mirror an earlier poll conducted by Public Policy Institute of California. That poll found that 58 percent of people would vote against the recall while 39 percent said they would vote in favor of removing Newsom.

The results of the poll largely fell among partisan lines with 90 percent of Democrats polled saying they would vote against the recall and around 80 percent of Republicans saying they will vote to recall the governor.

In two counties that supported a 2003 recall of former California Gov. Gray Davis, the Suffolk University poll found that a majority of both counties — 56 percent of respondents in Santa Barbara County and 52 percent in Lake County — were against recalling Newsom this time around.