Ridley-Thomas Claims Huge Lead In California 26th Senate Race

In a poll just completed by The Feldman Group in the 26th Senate District, Assembly Member Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-48) begins his campaign to succeed outgoing State Senator Kevin Murray with a substantial lead over his announced opponent, former state Assembly Member Rod Wright. The poll shows that in a district-wide head-to-head match up, Ridley-Thomas leads Wright by a wide margin:

Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas 44%
Former Assemblyman Rod Wright 13%

Ridley Thomas also maintains an enormous 40% head-to-head lead over Wright in the 48th Assembly District, an area that both candidates have represented(Ridley-Thomas currently holds the seat in the state Assembly that was previously held by Wright) :

Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas 57%
Former Assemblyman Rod Wright 17%

In the 47th Assembly District presently represented by Assembly Majority Whip Karen Bass and previously represented by former State Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, Ridley-Thomas leads Wright by a 49% to 14% margin.

Ridley-Thomas leads his principal challenger among every ethnic group throughout the diverse 26th Senate District. Ridley-Thomas leads Wright among African Americans 59% to 14% and he leads Wright among Latinos by a margin of 45% to 6%.

In the 26th Senate District’s West LA neighborhoods that have not been represented by either Ridley-Thomas or Wright in the past, Ridley-Thomas leads 19% to 4% among likely voters with a substantial number of those polled remaining undecided at this early stage in the race.

The likely-voting voting profile of the 26th State Senate primary electorate is as follows: 9% African-American; 32% Anglo; 11% Latino; 5% Asian Pacific American.