Forget Biden and Trump. Poll shows that a quarter of California independents want someone else

Andrew Sheeler
·2 min read
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Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

MANY CALIFORNIA VOTERS WANT ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL OPTION

Via David Lightman...

A lot of independent California voters want someone other than Joe Biden or Donald Trump to be the next president, a new statewide poll found.

Twenty-six percent of independent voters said they want “someone else” when asked their preferences by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

Eight percent of Democrats and 7% of Republicans also wanted an alternative candidate.

“It’s a sizeable number,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC survey director, of the findings in the poll, conducted May 23 to June 2.

The most prominent alternative candidate has been environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The poll did not mention him by name, but Baldassare said some people did mention him.

Kennedy will appear on the California ballot as the candidate of the staunchly conservative American Independent Party.

Independent voters preferred Biden by 41% to 32%.

Biden continues to have a big lead in the poll over Trump in California, 55% to 31%, with 13% overall preferring someone else. The numbers have barely changed in recent months. All percentages reflect preferences of likely voters.

PPIC LOOKS AT CALIFORNIA’S LGBTQ POPULATION

There are 2.8 million LGBTQ people who call the Golden State home, more than in any other state (Texas is No. 2 with 1.8 million LGBTQ people). That’s according to a U.S. Census-initiated survey conducted from February to April this year, and analyzed by the Public Policy Institute of California.

“California’s LGBTQ+ community includes a broad range of identities, not all of which are captured in the census data,” according to a recent PPIC blog post.

According to the Census data, just over half (52%) of California’s LGBTQ people identify as bisexual, 42% as gay or lesbian and 6% identify as transgender.

Younger adults are far more likely to identify as LGBTQ than are older adults.

Nearly a fifth, 19.3%, of adults 18 to 29 identify as queer, compared to 4.3% of those ages 60 and older.

LGBTQ young adults also were much more likely (72%) to identify as bisexual, while LGBTQ older adults were more likely (69%) to identify as gay or lesbian.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Hey folks, no need to worry about crime anymore. Apparently @GavinNewsom has it handled. I feel safer already, don’t you?”

- Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, responding sarcastically to a statement from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office about stopping organized retail theft, via X.

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