Calif. Senate race: Boxer leading Fiorina

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Three-term incumbent Barbara Boxer has widened her lead over Republican challenger Carly Fiorina in California's U.S. Senate race, a poll indicates.

A Field Poll released Friday shows Boxer's support at 47 percent has remained the same since the last poll in July, but Fiorina's numbers have slipped 3 points to 41 percent, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Undecided voters have increased from 9 percent to 12 percent, the poll found.

Two-thirds of respondents in the survey taken statewide Sept. 14-21 said their preference for Fiorina was largely based on disapproval of Boxer rather than support of Fiorina, the Chronicle said.

"We're in a very different political climate right now, where the voters are frustrated with the pace of the economic recovery," said Boxer campaign manager Rose Kapolczynski. "And they're expressing that skepticism toward incumbents."

Rudolph Berneike, a Republican from Milpitas, said he plans to reluctantly vote for Boxer, despite his dislike of Democrats.

"Fiorina is a corrupt executive who sent 30,000 jobs overseas," Berneike said. "She is a classic robber baron."

The poll was based on a survey of 857 registered voters, of whom 599 were considered likely to vote. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.