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THE C'lIFlltHI' PIll
THE INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL STATEWIDE SURVEY OF PUBLIC OPINION
ESTABLISHED AND OPERATED BY FIELD RESEARCH COMPANY SINCE 1946
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San Francisco Headquarters:
145 Montgomery Street. EX 2-5766
LOI Ange'el Office:
3142 Wilshire Boulevard· DU 5-5259
Mervin D. Field, Director
Robert Heyer, Editor
Release #377
For release THURSDAY MORNING, Oct. 25, 1962
RICHARDSON HAS SLIGHT EDGE OVER RAFFERTY
IN STATE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT RACE -­
MANY VOTERS STILL UNDECIDED AT THIS TIME
IMPORTANT: Contract for this service is subject
to revocation if publ icatlon is made prior to release
date and time or if any report or part of a report is
divulged to any persons outside of the newspaper
staff _ (See Paragra h "b" of Contract)
by Mervin D. Field
Director, The Cal ifornia Poll
Despite active campaigning by Ral ph Richardson and Max Rafferty for the State School
Superintendent post, almost half of the public is still undecided about which man they favor for this.
office. Among those who have made up their minds, Richardson has a slight edge.
A Cal ifornia Poll survey taken in mid-October, about three weeks before election day, shows
this division of opinion:
All registered
voters
Prefer:
RiChardson
28%
Rafferty
23
Undecided
49
The margin between these two candidates remains virtually the same among the part of the
electorate sampled who indicated the highest probability of voting in November.
who make up about three-fourths of the sample of all registered voters,
Among these voters
Richardson maintains a five
percentage point lead, and although the proportion who say they are undecided is somewhat smaller, it
still represents a plurality of the voting population.
Voters most likely
to go to the polls
Richardson
31%
Rafferty
26
Undecided
43
(MORE)
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The California Poll - page 2
(While it is impossible to predict exactly who will vote and who will not, those who indicate
a strong interest in the election and who say they firmly intend to vote are given a greater chance to
appear at the polls in November than are those who say today that they are less interested in voting.
Typical voter turnout in a gubernatorial year is 70 to 80 per cent of registration.)
Despite the exposure that both candidates and their platforms have been getting in the press
and on TV and radio, it is apparent that the large bulk of the voters will be making a late decision as to
which candidate, if any, will get their vote for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The California Poll will be completing its latest survey next week and will make its final
rEp ort on this and other races on Monday, November 5.
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COPYRIGHT BY FIELD RESEARCH COMPANY