Polls Apart

Top contenders for California's gubernatorial race next year are liberal Democratic Governor Pat Brown, who is almost certain to run for a third term, and Movie Actor Ronald Reagan, the state's fast-rising conservative Republican. Brown and Reagan are both the favorites for nomination within their respective parties. Yet neither, it turns out, ranks as his party's strongest candidate for the governorship.

According to California's respected The State Poll, Brown would take 40.2% of the votes cast in a Democratic primary today, compared with 25.4% for his biggest rival, Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty. A Republican primary would give Reagan 34.2% v. 20.6% for U.S. Senator Tom Kuchel, who took himself out of the race last week after months of indecision. However, the poll rates Republican Kuchel as the strongest of all candidates in a general election, placing him ahead of Brown, 55.2% to 27.1%, and Yorty, 46.1% to 29.7%. The results also indicate that Brown would be less effective than Yorty against the other six potential G.O.P. candidates.

Paradoxically, the rioting in his own city strengthened Yorty but cost Civil Rights Advocate Brown from 3% to 4% of his support. Nonetheless, the poll cautioned, Brown "has the capacity to come from behind, and has done so twice before." There was better news for the G.O.P. "On the basis of polls taken at comparable times," The State Poll concluded, "the Republicans are in a better position today than at any time since 1958."

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