Sextant conducts first CA U.S. Senate poll after De Leon announcement

Sextant Strategies & Research, in conjunction with Capitol Weekly has released the results of a survey of 1554 likely California voters focusing on the U.S. Senate race.  Toplines for both likely general election and primary election scenarios can be found here. Sextant Senate Poll Toplines

Key Findings from pollster Jonathan Brown

• Senator Feinstein shows the advantages of incumbency.  Three-fourths of Democrats have a favorable opinion of her and 70% approve of her job performance (only 8% disppaprove).  She holds sizable initial leads in both a three-way primary with a Republican (26 points) and a head-to-head matchup with De Leon (19 points).
• The gap between Feinstein and De Leon tightens by about ten percentage points in both ballots after respondents heard two negative messages about Feinstein – one focusing on her lengthy political career and the other that she has not been tough enough on President Trump.
• By a massive margin, more Democrats (68%) believe their Congressional leaders should work with Trump on any issues where they can find common ground than believe they should not work with him and improve his chances for re-election (24%).
• De Leon’s efforts to promote a single payer health care plan will be extremely well received by Democrats as he introduces himself to the half who have never heard of him.  Single payer is overwhelmingly popular among Democrats.
• Fewer than three-in-ten voters approve of President Trump’s job performance.