San Diego, Calif.- Three recent polls show independent candidate for Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner continuing to lead Democrat Ricardo Lara.

Poizner leads Lara on average 44.5% to 38.7%. He's doing it with NPP voters, as well as Republican voters. Poizner is the overwhelming choice for the GOP. According to the Berkeley poll, it's to the tune of 86%.

If he wins, Poizner would be the first NPP candidate to win statewide office in California.

The three polls are from Berkeley IGS, IVN, and Thomas Partners Strategies/Optimus.

The polls breakdown this way:

1.Berkeley IGS poll/Insurance Commissioner

This poll states: "No Party Preference voters are proving to be pivotal to Poizner, as they prefer the independent Poizner over Lara, the Democrat, by a 57% to 31% margin." 

2. IVN Poll/Insurance Commissioner

The poll asks the question: If the election for Insurance Commissioner were held today, who would you vote for?

3. Thomas Partners Strategies/Optimus poll

This poll uses landline technology. "Between 10/25-10/27, we surveyed 1,068 modeled likely midterm voters in California via IVR, landline only."

The poll has Poizner leading Lara by 2 points.

Conclusion

Independent candidate Steve Poizner has been endorsed by every newspaper in California that made an endorsement, including the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and San Diego Union-Tribune. “There’s no room in this job for a partisan politician,” Poizner said.

Senator Ricardo Lara is one of the Legislature’s more liberal members. He co-authored a bill last year to create a state single-payer, universal healthcare plan that would have cost around $400 billion annually. It passed the Senate and was shelved in the Assembly.

Lara also has been a strong advocate for immigrants living here illegally. His bill to allow illegal immigrants to sit on boards and commissions was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown.