Abbe Land

January 12, 2006

TO: Interested Parties

FR: Diane Feldman

RE: Polling in the Assembly District 42 Democratic Primary

West Hollywood Mayor Abbe Land is highly likely to defeat former Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Feuer in the Democratic primary for State Assembly from Assembly District 42. The two candidates are currently statistically tied, with Land winning 24 percent of the vote to Feuer’s 28 percent, even though voters are now more familiar with Feuer than Land. Balanced information about both candidates, however, erases any discrepancies in name recognition and motivates broad movement towards Land, giving her a dominant 48 percent to 32 percent advantage over Feuer.

These voters find Land’s progressive story and record of community-based activism enormously attractive. Sixty (60) percent of voters say they are much more likely to support Land after hearing she is a recognized health care advocate who supports universal health care, and 47 percent are much more likely to support Land because of her successful tenure as co-Director of the Los Angeles Free Clinic. Voters are also impressed by Land’s record as Mayor of West Hollywood and her efforts there to protect a woman’s right to choose (53 percent), ban Saturday Night Specials (52 percent), and enact strict environmental protections (46 percent).

After voters hear information about Land as well as positive information about Feuer – including his leadership on the L.A. City Council, strong environmental record, and history of providing free legal representation to seniors – almost half prefer Land (48 percent) as opposed to Feuer (32 percent). Land’s advantage over Feuer is both broad and deep. She bests him by a better than two-to-one margin in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills (winning 55 percent to 25 percent) and carries every L.A. City Council district, including Feuer’s old district (where she wins 46 percent of the vote to Feuer’s 36 percent). Her support also crosses demographic groups, as she leads among men (48 percent to 35 percent) and women (47 percent to 29 percent) and among voters of diverse education and religious backgrounds.

These Democratic primary voters are tired of the political status quo and Land’s profile appeals to their mood. They are interested in supporting a progressive (7.55 on a 0 to 10 scale) health care advocate (7.55) who will challenge the Republican agenda (7.95). They see in Abbe Land someone who meets all those criteria – a dynamic, exciting candidate for change – and broadly embrace her candidacy. We conclude that with sufficient resources to communicate her story and record, Land is highly likely to win the June Democratic primary.

# # #

Methodological note: This poll of 400 Democratic and DTS voters was conducted December 13th to the 18th, 2005, by professional interviewers. Respondents indicated they are likely to participate in the June 2006 Democratic primary. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percent.