Rasmussen (11/17, likely voters, 9/24 in parentheses):
Jerry Brown (D): 41 (44)
Meg Whitman (R): 41 (35)
Some other: 3 (3)
Not sure: 14 (18)
Jerry Brown (D): 42 (44)
Tom Campbell (R): 33 (34)
Some other: 6 (6)
Not sure: 19 (16)
Jerry Brown (R): 43 (45)
Steve Poizner (R): 32 (32)
Some other: 7 (5)
Not sure: 18 (18)
(MoE: ±5.5%)
This poll's a little suprising, since it's the first poll to find a very close race between Democratic AG Jerry Brown and Republican ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman (the closest she had come in any previous poll was 6 points, actually an R2K poll from August). It's also the first poll to find some wide differentiation in general election performance between Whitman and her other two opponents, as Rasmussen finds 9 and 11-point leads for Brown over ex-Rep. Tom Campbell and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. Compare that with September's Field Poll... or just with the trendlines from the previous Rasmussen poll.
Although Californians are understood to be in a surly mood these days, all the candidates clock in with positive favorables: Brown is at 48/41, Whitman is at 47/27, Campbell is at 40/20, and Poizner is at 36/26. I'm a little surprised at this level of name-rec for the Republicans, considering how little-known they have tended to be in other polls. Another tidbit that points to the effect of Rasmussen's likely voter screen: Barack Obama has a 55/43 approval -- a good number, to be sure, but most pollsters have had Obama in the low-to-mid 60s in California, as it usually tends to be one of his best states for approval ratings (in fact, given California's size, it's probably single-handedly responsible for keeping Obama's nationwide approvals in the mid-50s).
