(KRON) -- A poll released Tuesday night, one week ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm election, reveals how voters are feeling about Proposition 40, the so-called "billionaire tax." A poll from the Public Policy Institute of California indicates that only 46% of California voters are inclined to vote yes on the measure after reading the ballot title and label.
That falls short of the majority that would be needed to pass the measure, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires to fund health care. The measure has been divisive among Democrats.
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Progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Bay Area Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) have come out in favor of Prop 40. However, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his likely successor, former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, oppose it.
Becerra's Republican opponent, former Fox News host Steve Hilton, also opposes the measure, as does San Jose's Democratic Mayor Matt Mahan and former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter. High-profile members of the tech industry also oppose the measure.
Meta's Mark Zuckerberg has threatened to leave the state if it passes, and Building a Better California, an organization co-founded by Google's Sergey Brin, has spent over $100 million in opposition of Prop 40.
Also likely to fail is Proposition 39, which aims to prohibit citizens from voting unless they present government ID. Only 41% of those polled say they would vote yes on Prop 39, as opposed to 58% who oppose.
Another measure that looks on track to fail, according to the poll, is Proposition 43, which limits voters' ability to pass voter-proposed special taxes by increasing percentage of votes needed to approve such ballot measures from a majority (50%) to two-thirds. Among likely voters, 55% say they will vote no on Prop 43 with just 42% saying they would vote yes.
"This poll confirms what we're hearing across the state: the more voters learn about Prop 43, the less they like it," said David Kaufman of the No on Prop 43 campaign. "Opposition has climbed to 55 percent since September, and with ballots already coming in, voters are turning against a measure that would make it harder for their communities to fund firefighters, 911 response, and local services."
Unsurprisingly, in deep blue California, the poll also indicates that Becerra leads Hilton by a wide margin -- 61% to 37% -- in the governor's race.
