According to a research poll released by Godbe Research, Hayward councilmember and astrophysicist Bill Quirk is leading the Assembly District 20 race significantly with a 25 percent lead, a full 11 percent lead on the second place runner, Union City Mayor Mark Green.

The survey was conducted with a total population of 554 likely voters.

Green barely leads in second place with a 14 percent standing compared to Hayward School District Trustee Luis Reynoso, 13 percent, optometrist Jennifer Ong, 13 percent and in last place New Haven School District Trustee Sarabjit Kaur Cheema with nine percent.

According to the poll, a close second for the “top two primary” spot for this June appears to be between Reynoso, Ong and Green.

Quirk leads in the race with the greatest cash on hand with over $130,000 and the largest endorsements. In February, he was officially recognized as the California Democratic Party’s selectee for Assembly District 20.

This past weekend the Alameda County Democratic Party rally spent much of Saturday campaigning for their selectees by campaigning in portions of Hayward with pro-Quirk appealing to local voters.

The astrophysicist promises to vote in Assembly based on the “facts” if he is elected. His campaign cornerstone has been focused on a personnel expertise considering energy conservation in California.

Quirk has been standing firmly on his party’s platform emphasizing his support for measures largely supported by the Democrat party as evidence by the candidate forum at CSU East Bay.

Green, who leads the rest of the pack slightly, has been the Independent in the campaign and busily campaigning for the Assembly seat, emphasizing his capacity to “reach across both sides of the aisle” to work with Republicans and Democrats. He has shown his campaign focus on his government experience releasing flyers comparing years of experience in government to his competitors.

Green has worked with local and regional government on passing transportation measures on infrastructure. Much like Cheema, he wishes to bring an emphasis on Californian infrastructure, linking its importance to Californian economy.

Cheema is a civil engineer with experience in local infrastructure and has worked on transportation projects in the East Bay. She is native of India, coming to the U.S. in 1991. She has thus far seen success with Indian voters in the Union City area who have come out to her fundraising events. Although, she lags in financing, considering her campaign has only raised $22,350 with cash on hand of $18,550.

Green, on the other hand, has raised over $35,000 but due to extensive expenditures ends with around $13,000 cash on hand.

Ong, who has the least government experience, is tied with Reynoso, who has had scant media coverage during the campaign and has no financial filing available with the Secretary of State. Reynoso has been under the radar and came in late to the race but he manages to tie with a approval rating of 13 percent with Ong, who has been the largest spender in the campaign. In fact, Ong is one of the largest campaign spenders in the state of California for Assembly candidacy.

Ong has spent $119,021 this period with a total confirmed contributions of $82,000 reported. She has cash on hand of currently $91,226.

According to the poll, the race has proven to be a close call for second place challenger to Quirk. The top two will be decided on June 5.