Former Democratic California Rep. Katie Porter slipped six points in the state’s 2026 governor’s race, according to a Berkeley Institute of Government Studies (IGS) poll released Friday, showing Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco now leading.
Porter, the frontrunner in polls since August, fell from 17% to 11%, while Bianco climbed from 10% to 13%. The IGS poll included six other Democrats, but none received more than 3% support besides former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Becerra came in third with 8%, dropping one point since August, followed by Republican candidate Steve Hilton, who rose two points to also reach 8%. Meanwhile, 5% of voters said they’d back another candidate and 44% remained undecided.
Among those surveyed, 23% viewed Bianco favorably, 26% unfavorably and 51% had no opinion. Porter’s favorability stood at 26%, with 33% viewing her unfavorably and 41% expressing no opinion.
In response to the new data, Bianco told the Daily Caller News Foundation California constituents “need a sheriff” as he called out Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom for wasting tax payer dollars.
“Sacramento is home to more crime than any other city due to Gavin Newsom and his enablers stealing from Californians,” Bianco told the DCNF.
“They are spending billions to fund government programs for illegal immigrants, fund political power g[r]abs, building a new temple to government with little to no oversight, and in the meantime, there is no money for first responders, families trying to rebuild their lives, or tax relief for families,” Bianco added. “Californians need a Sheriff as their next Governor to restore sanity in Sacramento.”
The poll follows a string of negative headlines for Porter, including viral clips snapping at a reporter and former staffers.
An interview with CBS News California’s Julie Watts went viral on Oct. 7 after Porter walked out when asked how she planned to reach the 40% of state voters who supported President Donald Trump, curtly responding that she didn’t “need” Trump voters “in order to win.”
Watts attempted to challenge Porter about the point, however, the former Democratic representative began snapping back repeatedly. Porter eventually said she was ending the interview, adding she was no longer having a “pleasant, positive conversation.”
Just a day later, Politico published a resurfaced 2021 video showing Porter yelling at a staffer during an online conversation with then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, shouting, “Get out of my fucking shot!” while filming.
Porter did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
The IGS poll was conducted online in English and Spanish from Oct. 20–27 among 8,141 registered California voters. IGS collected the data by distributing email and text message invitations to stratified random samples of the state’s registered voters The sample has a margin of error of roughly ±2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
