Deukmejian Lead Over Bradley Falls to 11%, Poll Shows

Despite spending nearly $1 million on television ads since May, Gov. George Deukmejian has seen his lead over Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley drop by seven percentage points, according to a new California Poll.

The statewide survey, conducted by Mervin Field of San Francisco and broadcast on KCBS-TV in Los Angeles on Thursday, shows Deukmejian leading Bradley by 11 points, 52% to 41%, with 7% undecided. In a California Poll taken in late May, the governor’s lead was 18 points, 54% to 36% with 10% undecided.

“We are ecstatic, we have cut the governor’s lead in half since early May,” said Bradley campaign chairman Tom Quinn. He was referring to yet another survey by Field, that one taken in early May, which showed the governor leading by 22 points.

Quinn attributed Bradley’s gain in the California Poll to two factors:

“First, people are finally being exposed to Deukmejian’s record in office, which we have done our best to point out,” Quinn said. “And also, Californians outside the Los Angeles area are learning about Tom Bradley. People in the Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego areas have seen a lot of Tom Bradley since the last Field poll in May.”

Quinn said that Bradley has spent $375,000 on television ads since June 1, most of that outside the Los Angeles market. Deukmejian has spent nearly $1 million on TV ads statewide since May.

“My guess is that Democrats are starting to drift back toward Bradley,” Quinn said. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 51% to 38% in California.

The latest California Poll was taken of 1,028 adults between July 24 and Aug. 2. The margin of error is 3.3% in either direction.

Performance Rated

The poll found that the number of Californians who rate Deukmejian’s job performance as good or excellent has dropped by eight points, from 57% to 49%, since the survey in late May. The number who rate the governor’s performance as poor or fair is 46%.

“A ratio of 49% good or excellent to 46% poor or fair isn’t very good news for the governor,” Quinn charged.

Bradley’s accusation--made in speeches and television ads--that Deukmejian does not aggressively tackle the problem of toxic pollution has clearly concerned the governor’s campaign, which has aired TV ads to counter the attacks.

A Los Angeles Times Poll taken in late April showed that by a 25-point margin Californians believed that Bradley would do a better job than Deukmejian in disposing of toxic pollutants.

Asked what he made of the drop in the governor’s lead over Bradley, Deukmejian campaign manager Larry Thomas said, “I tend to agree with Mervin (Field) that we have been attracting over 40% of the Democrats in the state and it is natural that as the election comes closer some of those people will find their way back home.

“A point in Field’s poll represents about 85,000 votes, so these numbers indicate that if the election were held today the governor would win by 900,000 votes. I sure can’t complain about that. . . . But this poll will keep our troops hungry and working hard.”