By Chris Jennewein
Times of San Diego
SAN DIEGO — A poll released Friday by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies finds Democrat Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey in a statistical dead heat for Senate as the March 5 primary nears.
Garvey, a retired baseball star, was the choice of 27% of likely voters polled, with Schiff, a 12-term congressman, second at 25%. Democratic Congress members Katie Porter and Barbara Lee were third and fourth at 19% and 8%.
Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll, said support for Garvey has grown significantly in recent weeks.
“A big part of Garvey’s appeal to primary election voters relates to voter perceptions that he will be tougher on the nation’s immigration problem than the other candidates,” DiCamillo said.
He said that if Garvey’s current polling lead is reflected in the primary results, he will face Schiff in the general election, where the former Dodgers and Padres star is likely to be the underdog.
“When likely voters in the current poll were asked their preferences in a general election run-off between the two, Garvey would start out as the clear underdog, as he trails Schiff by fifteen points, 53% to 38%, in this setting,” DiCamillo said.
The poll was conducted online in English and Spanish from Feb. 22 to 27 among 6,536 registered voters. The margin of error is calculated at 2 percentage points.
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Chris Jennewein is publisher and editor of Times of San Diego, with which San Diego Jewish World trades stories under auspices of the San Diego Online News Association.