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# Polls: Independent Poizner Up 6 In Insurance Commissioner Race
- URL: https://ivn.us/polls-independent-poizner-up-6-in-insurance-commissioner-race/
- Published: 2018-11-01T18:15:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-22T20:05:00.000Z
- Author: Jeff Powers
- Tags: News

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](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3949w8v3?ref=ivn.us), [IVN](https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/1YCbo3xkprsfw27DnwL1HebRTYQbozg97/page/3BlY?ref=ivn.us), and [Thomas Partners Strategies/Optimus](https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=fd19d69505045f7e019bb4a7a&id=64b6c033aa&ref=ivn.us).

The polls breakdown this way:

## [1.Berkeley IGS poll/Insurance Commissioner](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9cf0k8sv?ref=ivn.us)

### 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."*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dc/be/dcbe1ac4-146f-43be-92a6-ea84728d86a6/content/images/2026/02/Screen-Shot-2018-11-01-at-10.46.55-AM.jpg)

## [2\. IVN Poll/Insurance Commissioner](https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/1YCbo3xkprsfw27DnwL1HebRTYQbozg97/page/YIqY?ref=ivn.us)

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

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dc/be/dcbe1ac4-146f-43be-92a6-ea84728d86a6/content/images/2026/02/Screen-Shot-2018-11-01-at-11.01.33-AM.jpg)

## [3\. Thomas Partners Strategies/Optimus poll](https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=fd19d69505045f7e019bb4a7a&id=64b6c033aa&ref=ivn.us)

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.