New Poll: Romney Leads California Republicans

A USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll released Thursday shows former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as the clear Republican presidential front-runner for California voters.

Romney holds 27 percent of registered Republicans' support in the state, followed by Herman Cain with 20 percent, Newt Gingrich with 14 percent and Ron Paul with six percent.

However, it's not all good news for Romney in California. According to the poll, he continues to struggle to consolidate support from more conservative voters as 22 percent of Republicans remain undecided who they want to win the GOP nomination.

"What has remained unchanged for the better part of the year is that Romney maintains support from roughly a quarter of Republican primary voters in California," said Dan Schnur, director of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll and director of the Unruh Institute of Politics at USC. "The only thing that has changed is the identity of his chief opponent."

In comparison to the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll, Romney and Perry were battling for California's Republican voters with 22 percent each while Cain hung in the back ground with four percent.

Support for President Barak Obama remained steady compared to the September poll. According to the latest results, 50 percent of voters in California approve of President Obama's job in office. Most of his support comes from minorities, with the President carrying 84 percent of Latino voters and 81 percent of black voters.

"Make no mistake about it, African American and Hispanic voters are President Obama's political lifeline in California," Schnur said. "More likely than not, their overwhelming support for his re-election is probably going to make this state less than competitive in November 2012."

Californians feel re-electing President Obama would benefit their own economic situations rather than electing a GOP candidate, according to the poll. Latino voters lead all other demographics with 61 percent supporting Obama's effect on their wallets.

The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll was conducted Oct. 30-Nov. 9 surveying 1,500 registered voters in California.