Sixty percent of likely voters say they support the governor's ballot measure.  Brown wants to raise the sales tax half a percent and raise the income tax on the rich.  Mark Baldassare with the Public Policy Institute of California conducted the poll.  He calls this initial response "very favorable."

Baldassare: "Generally speaking, initiatives and tax measures need to start out with very strong majority support and then from that, hope that there would be evidence of consensus, endorsements from parties that the public trusts."

Several parts of the governor's proposed pension overhaul also get strong support.  But the governor himself doesn't do nearly as well.  The PPIC poll puts his approval rating at 46 percent - though that's still ahead 10 points better than his disapproval rating.

NATIONAL POLITICS

The new survey also finds Newt Gingrich has jumped ahead of Mitt Romney as California Republicans' top choice for president.  But even though voters give President Obama a near record-low approval rating, they still prefer him over a generic GOP candidate.