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Gubernatorial candidates John Cox, left, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom are seen before a debate at UCLA in January 2018. (Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Gubernatorial candidates John Cox, left, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom are seen before a debate at UCLA in January 2018. (Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Voter support for Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox rose enough over the summer to cut front-runner Democrat Gavin Newsom’s lead in half, according to a new poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

Newsom, California’s two-term lieutenant governor, still remains solidly ahead in the race, but Cox managed to pick up more support from independents and a smidgen of Democrats since July, the survey showed.

Those gains for Cox were enough to cut Newsom’s lead to 12 percentage points, compared with 24 percentage points in July.

“Cox has been running more as an independent and more as someone who has been complaining about the status quo,” PPIC President and Chief Executive Mark Baldassare said. “That has an audience here in California.”

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