A new poll conducted by the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times finds a growing number of Californian's opposed to the Gas Tax passed by the Democrat dominated legislature in Sacramento.
When voters were asked if the vote happened today, 54.2% said they would cancel the tax and fee hikes. 45.8% said they would vote to keep the increases in place.
Two groups are working to put initiatives on the November 2018 ballot. If passed, the vote would repeal the 12-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase that took effect this month.
Robert Shrum is the director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC. Schrum said, “Put to a popular vote, the gas tax for infrastructure is in trouble. I certainly would not want to start out at 47% support if I was in favor of this and there was a ballot measure.
It might also point to a larger problem for democrats in Sacramento.
BY THE NUMBERS
Opposition to the Gas Tax is strongest among Republicans — 74.6% wanted to cancel the tax increase and fees, according to Jill Darling, the poll survey director.
The gas tax increase is supported by 55% of Democrats.
The poll was conducted among 1,504 eligible voters. The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
RACE FOR GOVERNOR
As for the race to replace Governor Jerry Brown, Democrat Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is currently leading the race to replace termed-out Brown, with 24.5 percent support.
The race has narrowed with former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, at 16.3 percent. And importantly, virtually unknown before he became a vocal proponent of the gas tax repeal, Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) has 11.8 percent.