Giuliani holds lead in poll of Republican voters,
McCain drops to fourth place

By Jason Bennert

August 16, 2007

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the onetime front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has dropped to fourth place among the candidates in a new poll released today of California Republican voters.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani remains the leading choice of state Republicans with 35 percent in the new Field Poll. His numbers are virtually unchanged from the March Field Poll where he led the pack with 34 percent.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has doubled his number from 7 to 14 percent to capture second place while former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who has not officially entered the race, increased his number from 8 to 13 percent.

McCain was at 24 percent in March but has fallen to 9 percent. Six other candidates received between 1 and 3 percent each and one-in-five state Republicans remains undecided, according to the poll.

The poll was conducted by phone from Aug. 3-12. The margin of error is plus or minus 5.4 percent.

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