Adam Schiff holds lead over Steve Garvey in US Senate race

LOS ANGELES - The November general election is fast approaching, and one of the most competitive races to watch for in California is the seat for US State Senate. 

The latest Berkeley IGS Poll shows Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff with a significant lead over former Dodger Republican Steve Garvey. 

The poll, released August 15, shows Schiff as the likely choice of 53% of Californians, while Garvey is preferred by 33%.  

Prior to the March primary election, Schiff had just a 15-point lead over Garvey in late February, according to a prior Berkeley IGS poll.

Data from the latest poll was collected online from July 31 to August 11 among a random sample of 3,765 Californians considered likely to vote.

"The results suggest Schiff continues to be in a strong position for the Senate race.  This is setting up to be a fairly typical Democratic versus Republican contest, at the state level in California, which tends to favor the Democratic candidate," said IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler.

Schiff leads Garvey 84% to 5% among Democrats and is receiving the support of about nine in ten self-described liberals. Meanwhile, Garvey is preferred by about nine in ten Republicans as well as voters identifying themselves as strongly conservative in politics.  

Schiff also holds the lead among voters not affiliated with either party.

In California’s last two Senate races, GOP candidates performed so poorly that only Democrats appeared on the November ballot. The last Republican to win a Senate race in the state was in 1988.