Editor’s note: This has been excerpted with permission from the Pacific Research Institute. To read the entire report, click here.

Polling taken after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate with Donald Trump shows that Gov. Gavin Newsom might not be the Democratic Party’s best option to replace the Delaware Democrat should he end his candidacy. It should be obvious why.

Biden’s troubling performance in the June 27 CNN debate fueled the ongoing discussions of who could and should replace him as the Democratic candidate. Of course, every list included Newsom, who was a Biden surrogate at the debate and obviously has his eye on the White House even as he pretends to avert his gaze every time he’s asked about it.

The numbers, however, indicate that he’d be a poor choice. A CNN poll taken three days after the debate showed Trump by five points over Newsom. A Data for Progress poll taken the day after had Trump up by three.

Multiple polls have Trump also beating Vice President Kamala Harris, though the gaps are closer and in some cases within the margin of error. Interestingly, the gamblers like Harris, who is extraordinarily unpopular, over Newsom. The RealClearPolitics betting odds average shows Trump at 56 percent, Harris at 15.7 percent, Biden at 12.2 and Newsom at 4.7.

Energy author and consultant Ronald Stein believes that the governor’s “unpopularity might have something to do with his extreme mandates that make life unaffordable.” California’s energy and environmental laws and regulations “do an excellent job of increasing the cost of electricity, products, and fuels to its citizens,” says Stein.

As damaging as his green agenda is, the reasons behind Newsom’s infamy go far beyond that. 

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