Giuliani Holds Big California Lead Among GOP

A Field Poll shows former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani with a twelve-point lead over U.S. Sen. John McCain (36% to 24%) for the 2008 Republican nomination in California's Feb. 5 primary election. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is a distant third at 7%. No other Republican candidate receives more than 4% of voter preferences, the poll reported.

In a head-to-head partisan matchup, however, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton leads Giuliani 53% to 40% in California, the new Field Poll reveals. That lead narrows when Clinton is paired against Sen. John McCain of Arizona (48% to 43%).

Sen. Barack Obama holds his own against the GOP lineup as well. The Illinois senator would maintain a nearly equivalent lead over both Giuliani (51% to 40%) and McCain (51% to 39%), in California. Former Sen. John Edwards currently runs ahead of Giuliani 51% to 41%, but leads McCain by a smaller 49% to 42% margin.

The Field Poll said "very large majorities of state Republican primary voters are familiar with Giuliani and McCain, and both are viewed in a very favorable light. Romney is not as well-known to this state’s likely GOP electorate, with nearly half (47%) having no opinion. However, among those able to rate Romney, more than twice as many view him favorably as unfavorably." Eight percent said they had a favorable opinion of Giuliani, compared to 71% for McCain.

Other tidbits from the Field Poll:

• "Giuliani receives his strongest support among Republican primary voters in Northern California, those age 50 or older and Republicans who do not identify themselves as born-again Christians. McCain does better among Republicans who are ideologically moderate or moderate conservatives, and among voters in Southern California."
• "When Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson are offered as GOP Presidential possibilities along with the other candidates, Gingrich draws heavily from the state’s strong conservatives and born-again Christians. Thompson’s support is more evenly distributed across the voter subgroups."

Read PDF of the poll results here.

(Photos: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP; Sgt. Matthew Roe/US Army via AP)