Poll: Newsom leads lieutenant governor's race

[ccharles000]

He's out of the governor's race, but a new poll puts San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom as the instant front-runner in a three-way Democratic match-up for lieutenant governor.

The poll of 600 likely Democratic voters statewide, conducted last month by San Francisco pollster Ben Tulchin, shows Newsom clocking in with 33 percent of the vote, giving him a big lead over Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, at 17 percent, and state Sen. Dean Florez of Shafter (Kern County), at 15 percent. Both Hahn and Florez are declared candidates for the June primary.

The remaining 35 percent of those surveyed were undecided.

"In a multi-candidate race, Gavin is extremely well positioned to win," said Tulchin, a Newsom ally who paid for the poll.

Newsom abandoned his yearlong quest for governor two months ago, leaving his once-promising political career in doubt. His unsuccessful campaign, however, did boost his name identification with Democratic voters, a key to winning any down-ballot primary race in which there is limited money for TV ads.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/03/BAGK1BRFEN.DTL&type=newsbayarea

[Cant trust em]

1. I'd rather have him as Lt. Gov than Mayor of San Francisco. nt