Cohen Leads Morgan in California Controller Race
ActiVote’s October 22, 2026 California Controller poll finds that Democrat Malia Cohen leads Republican Herb Morgan by 26.4%. The poll was in the field between October 4 and October 22 (median field date of October 13). The poll was among 400 likely midterm voters and has an average expected error of 4.9%.
Cohen leads among suburban and urban voters, voters under 50 and aged 65 and older, women and men, White and Latino voters, and at every level of income and education. Morgan leads among rural voters and voters aged 50 to 64. These group figures rest on subsamples for which the expected error is considerably larger than the 4.9% for the poll as a whole.
Both candidates hold their own party: Cohen takes 92% of Democrats and Morgan 93% of Republicans. Independents favor Cohen by 72% to 28%, and Democrats make up a much larger share of the likely electorate in this poll than Republicans (48% against 28%).
Political Spectrum
The following graph shows the support for Cohen and Morgan among left, moderate left, center, moderate right, and right voters. These groups are defined by splitting the California electorate in 5 equal sized groups of 20% each.
Cohen holds her side of the spectrum more firmly than Morgan holds his. Cohen wins the left unanimously (100%) and takes 94% of the moderate left, while Morgan takes 85% of the right and 63% of the moderate right. On top of that, Cohen wins the center by 70% to 30%.
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 | 400 LV | Unweighted | Weighted | Malia Cohen | Herb Morgan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | ±4.9% MoE | 100% | 100% | 63.2% | 36.8% |
| Political Spectrum | Left | 24% | 20% | 100% | 0% |
| Moderate Left | 27% | 20% | 94% | 6% | |
| Center | 19% | 20% | 70% | 30% | |
| Moderate Right | 13% | 20% | 37% | 63% | |
| Right | 16% | 20% | 15% | 85% | |
| Region | rural | 19% | 17% | 46% | 54% |
| suburban | 22% | 21% | 54% | 46% | |
| urban | 59% | 62% | 71% | 29% | |
| Age | 18-29 | 25% | 16% | 74% | 26% |
| 30-49 | 37% | 29% | 70% | 30% | |
| 50-64 | 22% | 22% | 48% | 52% | |
| 65+ | 17% | 33% | 62% | 38% | |
| Gender | F | 38% | 53% | 64% | 36% |
| M | 62% | 47% | 62% | 38% | |
| Party | D | 57% | 48% | 92% | 8% |
| R | 22% | 28% | 7% | 93% | |
| I | 12% | 18% | 72% | 28% | |
| Ethnicity | White | 67% | 51% | 54% | 46% |
| Latino | 24% | 30% | 68% | 32% | |
| Income | Low | 26% | 17% | 69% | 31% |
| Middle | 21% | 29% | 67% | 33% | |
| High | 53% | 54% | 59% | 41% | |
| Education | HS | 19% | 21% | 56% | 44% |
| College | 70% | 62% | 63% | 37% | |
| Grad | 10% | 17% | 74% | 26% |
Every poll in this race
| Published | Cohen | Morgan | Gap | Sample | MoE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 22, 2026 | 63.2% | 36.8% | D+26.4% | 400 | ±4.9% |