Rep. Mike Honda, right, with a supporter earlier
this year in San Jose.

CONGRESS | 17TH DISTRICT |
The battle of the internal polls is on in the 17th Congressional District. Rep. Mike Honda’s campaign Monday says its own polling shows the incumbent leading Ro Khanna by six percentage points.

Nearly two weeks ago, Khanna’s campaign trumpeted its own six–point advantage.

Honda’s polling of 500 likely general election voters has a similar +/-4.4 percent margin of error, but instead, finds him leading Khanna, 41-35.

Twenty-three percent of respondents survey by Lake Research Partners were undecided, according to the poll conducted July 17-21.

More important, for Honda, the polling shows his favorability among voters stands at 52 percent, with 29 percent viewing him unfavorable. Khanna’s split was 40/19, but an additional 40 percent of those surveyed had no opinion or had never heard of him.

Khanna beat Honda by 1.7 percent during the June primary. They will face-off for a second straight election year rematch this November.

Honda’s campaign manager said the polling shows Khanna’s “negative attacks” are not working. They also reiterated an attack employed last week that linked Khanna to Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder and Donald Trump supporter who spoke at the Republican National Convention. Thiel has given $7,800 in the past to Khanna’s campaign.

“Ro Khanna’s support of tax breaks for big corporations and other failed Republican economic policies, his financial backing from Wall Street, and support from right-wing conservatives are out of step with the district’s values,” Michael Beckendorf, Honda’s campaign manager. “With Democratic voters turning out in November, Khanna will have some very uncomfortable questions to answer.”

However, on the heels of Khanna’s Primary Election upset, the wind is still clearly with his campaign. Hari Sevugan, spokesperson for Khanna’s campaign said Honda is merely attempting to create a positive narrative to entice donors.

“We understand that Mike Honda needs to give his special interest donors something to have them continue to fund his campaign, especially after PACs funded over 30% of his fundraising last quarter,” said Sevugan.

“But as we’ve seen in the past, Mike Honda’s polls are worth as much as the paper his office’s ethics guidelines are printed on. The history, math and dynamics of intra-party general elections have proven Mike Honda has no path to victory this fall. He can whistle past the graveyard if he wants, but his supporters should know he’s whistling a funeral dirge.”