Voters don't like Davis, or effort to recall him

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Although Gov. Gray Davis' popularity has reached a record low, a majority of voters think an election to recall him would be bad for California, according to a new Field Poll.

Two of every three people, or 67 percent of respondents in the poll released Tuesday, said they hold an unfavorable opinion of Davis, compared to 27 percent holding a favorable opinion.

In September, the last time the Field Poll surveyed voters on their attitudes toward the governor, 46 percent offered a negative appraisal.

Noting that a majority of voters from every political party now hold a dim view of the governor, Mark DiCamillo, the poll's director, called the results ``by far voters' worst assessment of Davis ever.''

Davis earned similarly poor marks for his job performance. With 65 percent of those surveyed saying they disapprove of his work in office, he has the worst job performance rating of any sitting governor in the 55 years the poll has been conducted.

At the same time, respondents were not much more enthusiastic about the prospect of recalling Davis an organized effort to unseat the governor was launched last month. Asked for their thoughts on the effort to gather signatures for a recall, respondents indicated they thought it was a bad idea by a 59 percent to 33 percent margin.

One explanation for the disparity is that voters, while not keen on Davis, think that a recall election would be harmful for the state.

Even though only 33 percent said they would be willing to sign a recall petition, DiCamillo noted that still represents a large pool of potential signatures. Recall organizers need at least 897,158 for the measure to make it on the ballot.

If the issue does end up before voters, the poll found the governor could face a difficult time retaining his job. If a recall election were held now, 46 percent of the people surveyed said they would vote to remove him from office, while 43 percent would vote against recall and another 11 percent were undecided.

Pollsters also asked voters to choose among six candidates as a successor to Davis. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante received the most votes, 22 percent, followed by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger with 17 percent, businessman Bill Simon with 15 percent, and Attorney General Bill Lockyer 11 percent. Former Secretary of State Bill Jones received 10 percent, and state Treasurer Phil Angelides got 4 percent. Simon lost in the gubernatorial election to Davis last November.

The poll, which was based on a survey of 695 voters and conducted April 1-6, carries a sampling error of 3.8 percentage points.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)