Biden support down sharply among California voters for first time in presidency, poll shows

For the first time in his presidency, a majority of California voters disapprove of President Biden's job performance, as support for him has dropped sharply among major Democratic-leaning groups, a new poll shows.

Fifty-two percent of the state's voters disapprove of Biden's performance in office, compared with 44% who approve, according to the latest UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. Disapproval of Biden has risen 6 percentage points, and approval has fallen 4 points since May, the last time the poll asked the question.

The drop has come heavily from Biden's fellow Democrats and, to a lesser extent, from the state's nonpartisan voters. Almost all the state's Republican voters already disapproved of him.

No single issue appears to fully account for the change: Biden gets poor ratings on several major topics, including inflation, the Israel-Hamas war and immigration.

Specific issues, however, may be the wrong place to look for an explanation: Many voters don't