Poizner Uses Immigration to Close in on Whitman

The race to become the GOP nominee for governor is tightening up substantially in California, in large part due to immigration issues. Meg Whitman, who as recently as March led Steve Poizner by fifty points, now finds her lead down to just two points.

The race to become the Republican Party’s nominee for governor is tightening up substantially in California, in large part due to immigration issues.

Meg Whitman, who as recently as March led Steve Poizner by fifty points, now finds a resurgent opponent whittling her lead down to just two points. One month before the primary, SurveyUSA reports that Whitman’s support has dropped ten points in the last eighteen days to 39%, while Poizner’s vote share increased a corresponding amount to 37%.

As the race continues tightening, Poizner honed in on Whitman’s stance on immigration. Poizner’s ad brands Whitman as a ‘liberal’ who “supports Obama’s amnesty plan” and opposes Arizona’s controversial immigration law. But the alleged contrast between the two didn’t exist just months ago.

On their March 15 televised debate, Whitman explained her immigration plan, which includes improved implementation of e-Verify and the elimination of sanctuary cities. “I’m a hundred percent against amnesty,” said Whitman. Poizner’s newfound contrast with Whitman didn’t exist then. “I agree with most of what Meg Whitman said,” said Poizner, without adding much more of substance.

At the time, FrumForum said the following about the debate: “they ended up agreeing on everything… both visions appear to differ very little.”

Whitman played defense on immigration today, dispatching former California Governor Pete Wilson to do a radio ad in favor of her immigration plan, and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) to hack away at Poizner’s border security credentials in a press release. Simultaneously, she released a television ad featuring a volley of criticisms against Poizner’s candidacy.

The Whitman camp seemed unfazed by the tightening poll numbers. “There will be a number of polls in this race. We’re confident that on Election Day Californians will reject Sacramento politicians and choose Meg because she is the only fiscal conservative running for Governor,” Sarah Pompei, a spokesperson for Meg Whitman, told FrumForum.

On the other hand, Poizner’s campaign continued touting immigration. “Steve’s message of cutting taxes and ending illegal immigration is clearly resonating with Republican voters. A grassroots candidate like Steve Poizner is what voters are looking for, not an out-of-touch non-voter like Meg Whitman,” said Poizner Spokesperson Jarrod Agen in a press release yesterday.

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In the other major California GOP primary, Tom Campbell extended his lead over opponent Carly Fiorina in a new poll released today. The same SurveyUSA poll mentioned above had Campbell leading Fiorina 35% to 24%. Chuck Devore increased his share of the vote to 15%.

SurveyUSA has the details:

Among men, Campbell had led by 8 points, now leads by 12; among women, Campbell had led by 5, now 10. DeVore is up 5 points among voters age 18 to 49, Campbell is down 5, Fiorina is down 10. Among voters age 50+, Campbell is up 6. In California's Inland Empire, Fiorina had led by 6 points, now trails by 5. Campbell's lead in the Bay Area is now smaller, but his lead in greater Los Angeles is now larger.