An article by former House Speaker New Gingrich in Fox News suggests Rancho Santa Fe Republican John Cox has a good chance of being elected governor of California.
“A recent survey indicates he is now within striking distance of being elected governor of the infamously liberal state in November,” Gingrich wrote.
The survey by the respected Public Policy Institute of California poll showed Democrat Gavin Newsom with 28 percent, Cox at 14 percent and Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles, at 12 percent. A previous poll showed Newsom and Villaraigosa tied.
Gingrich argued in his article that if Cox comes in second in June, then under California’s top-two primary system, heavy turnout by Republican voters in November could give Cox the edge.
But Gingrich conceded that “California will be a difficult battleground. Our opponents are entrenched and well-funded.”
Cox is a successful lawyer, accountant, businessman and broadcaster who was active in Illinois politics before moving to California.
