California: Newsom holds big lead in re-election bid for governor

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The latest Berkeley IGS Poll finds Governor Gavin Newsom holding a commanding lead in his fall re-election bid against Republican challenger, state Senator Brian Dahle. The poll finds Newsom currently leading by 27 points among the state’s registered voters and 24 points among voters considered most likely to vote in the November general election. …

The poll also finds that 53% of the state’s voters approve of the job Newsom is doing overall while 42% disapprove. CONTINUED

Mark DiCamillo, Berkeley IGS Poll

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Abortion Rises in Importance as a Voting Issue, Driven by Democrats

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While the economy remains the dominant issue in this fall’s midterm elections, the issue of abortion has increased markedly in importance among Democrats following the Supreme Court’s decision ending the federal guarantee of a right to legal abortion in the United States.

A majority of registered voters (56%) say the issue of abortion will be very important in their midterm vote, up from 43% in March. Virtually all of the increase has come among Democrats: 71% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters rate abortion as very important; fewer than half (46%) said this in March. By contrast, views among Republicans and GOP leaners have shown almost no change since then (41% now, 40% then). CONTINUED

Pew Research Center

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Americans’ Experiences, Concerns, and Views Related to Gun Violence

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About a fifth of Americans say either themselves, a family member, or a close friend has had an experience with gun violence in the past five years, and even more believe it is likely they will be a victim of gun violence in the next five years, according to a new UChicago Harris/AP-NORC Poll. There are significant racial and ethnic disparities, with Black Americans four times as likely and Hispanic Americans twice as likely to report recent experience with gun violence when compared with white Americans.

Three-fourths of Americans view gun violence as a major problem, and 8 in 10 say gun violence is on the rise in the United States, although fewer believe it is increasing in their community.

Many Americans hold intersecting priorities, as they want to both prevent gun violence and protect gun rights. In particular, 52% say it is both very important to prevent mass shootings and very important to ensure people are able to own guns for personal protection. CONTINUED

UChicago Harris/AP-NORC Poll

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Marijuana and hallucinogen use among young adults reached all-time high in 2021

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Marijuana and hallucinogen use in the past year reported by young adults 19 to 30 years old increased significantly in 2021 compared to five and 10 years ago, reaching historic highs in this age group since 1988, according to the Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study. Rates of past-month nicotine vaping, which have been gradually increasing in young adults for the past four years, also continued their general upward trend in 2021, despite leveling off in 2020. Past-month marijuana vaping, which had significantly decreased in 2020, rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in 2021.

Alcohol remains the most used substance among adults in the study, though past-year, past-month, and daily drinking have been decreasing over the past decade. CONTINUED

National Institutes of Health

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Parents lack confidence public schools will have enough staff this fall

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Forty-one percent of parents in America say they are not confident that their public schools’ will have enough teachers and staff available to meet the needs of their students, according to a new NBC News poll. Just 25% of registered American voters raising children under the age of 18 say they’re confident in their public schools’ staffing levels — 16% have “a great deal” of confidence and 9% say they’re “quite a bit” confident. …

Fifty-four percent of those raising children under 18 say they are either “a great deal” or “quite a bit” confident public schools can be kept open safely for in-person instruction while dealing with Covid. CONTINUED

Ben Kamisar, NBC News

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Very few Americans believe political violence is acceptable

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A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that overall very few Americans agree that political violence is acceptable. Eighty-five percent of Americans disagree that it is acceptable for a member of their political party to threaten and/or intimidate others to achieve a political goal. Eighty-three percent also disagree that violent acts are acceptable in order to achieve their idea of a better society. CONTINUED

Ipsos

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