Marathon Pundit: Sen. Boxer less popular, vulnerable in California

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is less popular than ever in deep-blue California.

The San Francisco Chronicle explains:

California voters are giving U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer some of the lowest approval ratings of her career, as the three-term Democrat is in a statistical dead heat against first-time GOP office-seeker Carly Fiorina, according to a new Field Poll released today.

Boxer leads Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, 47 to 44 percent, according to Field's survey of 1,390 registered voters, 1,005 of whom were considered likely to vote in November. The poll, conducted June 22-July 5, has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points among likely voters. For Boxer's job performance ratings among registered voters, the margin of error is 2.8 percentage points.

Boxer's slight numerical lead masks potentially serious problems for the senator, starting with how 52 percent of the respondents hold an unfavorable view of her.

At the same time, her job approval rating is among the lowest that Field has measured for her since she was first elected to the Senate in 1992: 43 percent of registered voters disapprove of her performance while 42 percent approve. Among likely voters, 48 percent disapprove and 42 percent approve.