Poll: Californians downbeat about direction of state, have little faith in elected leaders

Poll: Californians say state is on wrong course

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Californians are in a dour mood, with three-quarters of adults believing the state is on the wrong course, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Residents also have little faith that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers can work together to solve the state’s fiscal problems, but would favor a tax increase if the money was targeted for schools.

“Residents have deep concerns about the economy and their own budgets, and they don’t see how California’s leaders will help guide the state through these difficult times,” said Mark Baldassare, president of the San Francisco-based think tank.

The poll found that 74 percent of Californians believe the state is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 19 percent who said it’s doing OK.

The high level of pessimism is reflected in people’s view of the state budget. California is facing a $20 billion shortfall through June 2011.

Two in three Californians believe the governor and Legislature will not be able to cooperate in the coming year, the highest level since the nonpartisan institute began asking the question in 2006.

The negative perception is even higher at 72 percent among Republicans. The Legislature rarely makes its June 15 deadline to pass a budget, and last year’s fiscal crisis forced the state to issue IOUs for only the second time since the Depression.

While nearly everyone agrees the state budget deficit is a problem, Californians are divided over an approach to solve it — just like Republicans and Democrats in the state Legislature.

Among the adults surveyed, 41 percent favor a mix of spending cuts and tax increases, while 37 percent favor mostly spending cuts. Likely voters who were surveyed are evenly split: 40 percent said they favor mostly spending cuts, while 41 percent favor a mix of cuts and tax hikes.

Just 11 percent of likely voters favor mostly tax increases, while 2 percent say it’s OK to borrow money and run a deficit.

Californians agree their top spending priority is K-12 schools and said they are willing to pay more to stabilize public education.

Nearly six in 10 Californians want to protect public schools and view that funding as more important than spending on health and human services, higher education and prisons. Two in three adults say they would be willing to pay higher taxes to maintain current levels of school funding.

The poll found more negative views toward prisons and corrections spending, with 87 percent saying they would not pay higher taxes for those purposes.

The poll was based on a telephone survey of 2,001 Californians interviewed in English or Spanish from Jan. 12-19. It had a sampling error rate of plus or minus 2 percent for all adults and plus or minus 3 percent for likely voters.

Pollsters also asked questions about current officeholders and issues dealing with this year’s elections.

Californians gave an approval rating of 30 percent to Schwarzenegger and 18 percent to the Legislature, near record lows for both.

The survey also affirmed recent polls showing former Congressman Tom Campbell leading in the Republican race to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has a 49 percent job approval rating. Campbell leads among likely voters in the GOP primary with 27 percent support, compared to 16 percent for former Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive Carly Fiorina and 8 percent for state Assemblyman Chuck Devore.

Campbell’s departure from the gubernatorial race benefited former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman, who increased her lead among GOP primary voters over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, 41 percent to 11 percent.

Unofficial Democratic candidate Jerry Brown maintains a narrow lead over Whitman among all likely voters, 41 percent to 36 percent. Nearly one in four voters remains undecided.

The results for the Republican primary candidates were based on interviews with 425 likely GOP voters and had a sampling error rate of plus or minus 5 percent.