Jerry Brown leads poll of gloomy California voters

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Attorney General Jerry Brown is by far the most popular candidate for governor in next year's election, but most voters in his party are unhappy that he is the only major Democrat running, according to a new poll on Sunday.

Sixty-five percent of Democrats surveyed in the Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll said they wanted additional Democratic Party options now that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had quit the race on October 30.

Fewer than a third were satisfied with Brown -- a former two-term governor, onetime Oakland mayor and three-time Democratic presidential hopeful -- as the only choice.

The withdrawal of Newsom, known nationally for his fight to legalize gay marriage but lagging in recent polls, left Brown as the only major politician seeking the Democratic nomination next year to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor.

Although he has yet to formally declare his candidacy, Brown drew the most favorable ratings in the gubernatorial field, 44 percent, not unsurprising in a state long known for its Democratic leanings as a whole.

His three most likely Republican opponents -- former EBay chief executive Meg Whitman, former Congressman Tom Campbell and state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner -- remain little known by most voters. None was seen favorably by more than 17 percent of voters.

Schwarzenegger, barred by term limits from seeking reelection in 2010, has seen his popularity sputter amid California's budget crisis and a stubborn recession that, the poll showed, has left Californians deeply disillusioned.

VOTER DISAPPOINTMENT OR ANGER?