Governor Newsom received positive results on his handling of the pandemic and a huge turnout advantage among Democrats.
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The polling data shows 31% of voters called the pandemic the state's top issue and 80% of those voters supported keeping Newsom in office.
Democrats outnumbered Republicans in exit poll data by 17 percentage points, 43-26% (with the rest independents and others).
Underscoring the GOP's challenges in California, 62% rated the Republican Party unfavorably, compared with a tepid but still positive 51% favorable rating for the Democratic Party.
Just 3 in 10 said Newsom's pandemic control measures are too strict, countering a key argument in the recall drive against him. 70% support the state's student mask mandate and 63% sided with the governor in seeing vaccination as more of a public health responsibility than a personal choice.
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But some results were less incumbent-friendly; 6 in 10 voters called the cost of living in their area, "unmanageable." Those polled were divided evenly in rating the state's economy positively or negatively 50-47%.
Overall, 55% approved of the way Newsom is handling his job.
Take a look at the latest stories and videos about the California governor recall.
ABC News has contributed to this report.