Katie Porter has slight lead over Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee in race to replace Dianne Feinstein

Rep. Katie Porter narrowly leads the wide open race for California’s Senate seat, a new poll reported Friday.

Porter, D-Orange County, was the choice of 19% of likely voters, just ahead of Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Los Angeles, at 16% and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, at 13%, a June survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found. The other voter preferences were scattered among several candidates, topped by Republican Eric Early at 7%. Six percent were undecided.

PPIC also found in a June poll that in the race for the White House, 50% of the state’s likely Republican voters support former President Donald Trump.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trailed with 24%, followed by former Vice President Mike Pence at 6%.

In the general election, President Joe Biden would trounce Trump in California, 57% to 31%. Biden beat Trump in the state 63.5% to 34% in 2020.

The Senate survey, conducted last month, showed the race remains highly competitive. The three Democrats are vying to succeed veteran Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who plans to retire when her term ends in January 2025.

The top two finishers in the March 2024 primary will compete for the seat in November.

Among Republican candidates, six are each receiving 10% of the vote.

“It seems most likely that two Democrats will make the top two,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC statewide survey director, in a blog post.

The contest between Porter, Schiff and Lee is expected to remain in a tight. Their voting records are similar and each is regarded as having a strong base of support.

The PPIC results were similar to a May Berkeley-IGS poll that found Porter also with a slight lead over Schiff and Lee. The poll analysis noted that “the race remains a wide open affair.”

Porter’s campaign reported raising $3.2 million in the second quarter of the year and enters the summer with $10.4 million on hand.

Lee, who is regarded as a favorite of grassroots progressives, raised about $1 million in the second quarter.

Schiff’s campaign outraised them both, hauling in $8.1 million during the spring quarter. He had $29.5 million on hand.

Schiff was in the news when the PPIC poll was taken. The Republican-controlled House voted June 21 to censure him for his role in investigations of Trump.

Schiff called the action a “badge of honor.”