Poll shows voters view Senate race as a referendum on Boxer

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There is arguably no more successful and polarizing politician in California than three-term Sen. Barbara Boxer. And while she holds a six-point lead in a new Field Poll released Friday, the survey shows Boxer’s opponent, Carly Fiorina, is secondary in the minds of most California voters when deciding who should represent them in Washington.

The poll asked respondents whether their vote in the Senate race was primarily a vote for their candidate of choice or against their candidate’s opponent. Among voters supporting Boxer, 67% said theirs was a vote for Boxer while 29% said it was a vote against her opponent. Among Fiorina supporters, 31% said their vote was in favor of their candidate, while 65% said they would be voting against Boxer.

‘At this point in the campaign, majorities of supporters of Boxer and those backing Fiorina appear to concur on one thing about this year’s U.S. Senate contest,’ wrote Field Poll directors Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field in a release that accompanied the new poll data. ‘The race is primarily about the incumbent.’

-- Anthony York in Sacramento

Photo: Associated Press