Alex Padilla for California State Senate

POLL SHOWS PADILLA LEADING RACE
FOR 20th STATE SENATE DISTRICT

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles City Councilmember Alex Padilla has a commanding 25 point lead in the race for the 20th State Senate District according to a poll conducted by The Mellman Group. The survey of likely primary voters showed that 38 percent favored Padilla while 13 percent favored his opponent, Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez. Padilla has a more than 2 to 1 advantage over Montanez in every portion of the district, including the 39th Assembly District, which she represents.

According to the survey, Alex Padilla is better liked than Montanez across the 20th Senate District. Padilla enjoys higher favorability and job performance ratings among likely voters in the 20th State Senate District, even in Montanez’s Assembly District where 63 percent give Padilla favorable ratings compared with 49 percent who give Montanez favorable ratings.

Earlier this week, Montanez’s campaign issued a press release claiming that she has a 5 point lead after “positive aspects” of both candidates were read to respondents in a survey conducted by the campaign. Although the Montanez campaign says that Padilla’s initial lead is based on name ID, in fact, The Mellman Group survey shows that among voters who know both candidates, Padilla leads in the vote by a 2 to 1 margin (45 percent Padilla, 22 percent Montanez). The Montanez release excluded information regarding the initial vote for each candidate and the actual language read to respondents regarding “positive aspects” of the candidates. The reluctance of the Montanez campaign to release this information indicates that their polling must confirm that at this point in time, Padilla is positioned to win the race.

Councilmember Padilla is running for the State Senate seat being vacated by State Senator Richard Alarcon. Earlier this week, the Padilla campaign announced that it has raised more than $545,000 since Padilla formed his committee in August 2005, and has more than $475,000 cash on hand. The primary election will be held in June 2006.

The Mellman Group is a nationally-respected research firm with decades of experience in California. Most recently, The Mellman Group helped the Alliance for a Better California in their sweeping initiative victories in the 2005 special election. The survey of the 20th State Senate District included 500 likely primary voters and was conducted between December 3 and 5, 2005. The margin of error is +/- 4.4 percent.

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