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POLITICS

L.A Residents Rate Mayor Worse Than Newsom on Wildfire Response

Many residents of Los Angeles County plan to move after the recent devastating wildfires, but most give California Gov. Gavin Newsom higher ratings than LA Mayor Karen Bass in terms of handling the emergency.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 54% of Likely Los Angeles County Voters rate Newsom as having done a good or excellent job in responding to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area, while 27% rate his response as poor. By comparison, just 36% give Mayor Bass a good or excellent rating for her response to the wildfire, and 33% rate her as doing a poor job during the emergency. (To see survey question wording, click here.

At least eight people were killed and 15 more are reportedly missing in the wake of the recent wildfires. While a majority (61%) Los Angeles County voters say they’re happy where they live, 25% say they plan to move – and of those planning to move, 41% want to leave California altogether.

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The survey of 809 Los Angeles County Likely Voters was conducted on January 13-15, 2025 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Seventeen percent (17%) of L.A. County voters say they evacuated their home because of the wildfires, with about one-in-eight saying their home was either damaged (7%) or destroyed (6%) by the fires. Republicans were more likely than either Democrats or independent voters to say they were evacuated

Seventy-seven percent (77%) believe it’s likely that arson contributed to the spread of the wildfires, including 34% who say it’s Very Likely.

Forty percent (49%) believe the California wildfires should be mostly blamed on climate change, but 27% blame other natural forces, while 24% think that the wildfires should mostly be blamed on the failures of public officials.

Among other findings of the survey of Los Angeles County voters:

– Nearly one-in-five (19%) say they don’t have insurance coverage on their homes, while 40% do have insurance and 31% live in rentals.

– Considering widespread reports of looting in areas evacuated because of the wildfires, 51% say this is to be expected, while 35% believe the policies of California have contributed to lawlessness.

– More than two-thirds (68%) believe Los Angeles should still be the host city for the 2028 Olympic games.

– Governor Newsom is viewed favorably by 57% of Los Angeles County voters, including 24% with a Very Favorable impression. Thirty-nine percent (39%) view Newsom unfavorably, including 23% with a Very Unfavorable opinion.

– Mayor Bass is viewed favorably by 42% of voters in the county, including 16% with a Very Favorable impression. Forty-four percent (44%) view Bass unfavorably, including 23% with a Very Unfavorable opinion.

– More than a third (35%) of county voters believe it would have been better if Mayor Bass’s opponent, Republican businessman Rick Caruso, had won the 2022 mayoral election.

– President Joe Biden is viewed much more favorably by Los Angeles County voters than is President-elect Donald Trump. Fifty-seven percent (57%) have at least a somewhat favorable impression of Biden, while just 37% view Trump favorably.

– Just 29% believe Trump will help California's recovery, while 41% expect him to hinder recovery, and 20% say Trump will not make much difference in California’s recovery.

Trump’s hostile relationship with the news media hasn’t changed, and many voters still see it as mainly Trump’s fault.

Biden has made the defense of Ukraine against Russia a central focus of his foreign policy, but most voters don’t think he’s handled it well.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to the public as well as to Platinum Members.

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The survey of 809 Los Angeles County Likely Voters was conducted on January 13-15, 2025 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

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