Rent-control expansion trailing at the polls

Polling group Survey USA released a new poll of California voters Tuesday that showed Proposition 10, the attempt to overturn the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Act, trailing by double digits. This mirrors previous polling on the same question.

Survey USA quizzed 762 self-described “likely voters,” only 35 percent of whom say they favor the rent-control expansion on the November 6 ballot. Another 46 percent are against it, with the remainder undecided.

Note that the poll has a fairly high 4.9 percent margin of error, which could potentially put the proposition’s odds much closer than they appear—or, conversely, even deeper in the hole.

A September poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found much the same, with Prop 10 behind 36-48 percent in that survey.

In the Bay Area specifically, only 33 percent of voters say they’re in favor of Proposition, versus 46 percent against.

Survey USA’s results found Proposition 10 much more popular among voters ages 18 to 49, about 42.5 percent of whom favor it versus 34.5 percent against.

But support takes a dives with older voters, with those 65-and-up bracket opposing it by the largest margin (58 percent).

The measure is also more popular among those making less than $40,000 per year, and more popular with Democrats and independents than with Republicans.

Proposition 10 supporters did receive some good news Tuesday, as the LA County Board of Supervisors endorsed the measure on a 3-1 vote.

The Survey USA poll also showed Proposition 6, the gas tax repeal, ahead with 58 percent in favor—a contrast to previous polling which found it trailing—and showed the Proposition 1 housing bond ahead by an almost three-to-one margin.

• SurveyUSA California Poll
• PPI California Poll