California Voters Favor Condoleezza Rice For U.S. Senate

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is a favorite among those for whom California voters would vote to succeed Barbara Boxer’s vacant seat in the U.S. Senate.

A new Field Poll released Wednesday showed Rice at the top of the list of 18 prominent potential candidates for the Senate with 49 percent of likely voters saying they would be inclined to support her. Behind Rice with 46 percent was State Attorney General Kamala Harris.

In that same poll, Condoleezza Rice was the only Republican to receive a vote higher than 40 percent. The second person in the party for whom likely voters said they would feel inclined to support was former State Senator Phil Wyman with just 24 percent.

Rice was also at the top of the list for Republican voters with 74 percent saying they would support her for the Senate. Wyman came in second with just 51 percent.

In the Democratic voters section, Harris took the lead with 74 percent. But Condoleezza Rice was the most favored Republican amongst Democratic voters with 31 percent saying they would support her. Assemblyman Rocky Chavez was the second highest-ranked Republican amongst Democrat voters. But only 10 percent of Democrat voters said they would likely support Chavez for the Senate seat.

At this point, it is uncertain if Condoleezza Rice will run for Boxer’s vacant U.S. Senate seat. Currently, Rice is serving as a political economy professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Back in January, the Hill reported that Rice’s Chief of Staff Georgia Godfrey mentioned she has no interest in running.

“It’s not even a consideration. She’s happy here at Stanford!”

With this new poll out, Godfrey was asked once again if Condoleezza Rice had any interest in running for Senate. According to an email obtained by Talking Points Memo, the answer was still the same.

“The poll doesn’t change her position about running for Senate. She plans to stay at Stanford.”

And while Condoleezza Rice is a favorite for the U.S. Senate amongst California voters, she still remains a controversial figure. Last year, the Inquisitr reported that Rice was chosen to give the commencement speech at Rutgers University’s graduation ceremony. But after backlash from students, Rice noted in a statement that she decided to decline the invitation.

“Commencement should be a time of joyous celebration for the graduates and their families. Rutgers’ invitation to me to speak has become a distraction for the university community at this very special time.”

How would you feel about Condoleezza Rice taking over Barbara Boxer’s U.S. Senate seat?

[Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images]