One month till voting in California begins, the fiercely fought contest in California's 52nd Congressional district is effectively even --- 47% for incumbent Democrat Scott Peters, to 46% for Republican challenger Carl DeMaio --- according to an exclusive Union Tribune / KGTV-TV 10News poll conducted by SurveyUSA.

Peters holds 87% of the Democratic base; just 10% of Democrats cross-over and vote Republican. DeMaio holds 80% of the Republican base; 16% of Republicans cross-over and vote Democratic. Independents split. Peters ges 82% of the liberal vote. DeMaio gets 78% of the conservative vote. Moderates break for the Democrat by 22 points.

Voters say that "integrity" is the most important issue in the race. On that issue, Peters leads DeMaio by 19 points. Among voters who say that "fiscal responsibility" is the most important issue, DeMaio leads by 58 points. Among voters who say that the ability "to reach across party lines" is the most important issue, Peters leads by 39 points.

Compared to a KGTV-TV 10News poll released 3 months ago, DeMaio is down 5 points, Peters is up 3 points. DeMaio had led by 7, now nominally trails by 1, an 8-point swing to the incumbent. Then, DeMaio led by 17 points among men. Today, DeMaio leads by 2 points among men. Then, DeMaio led by 9 points among white voters. Today, DeMaio trails by 2 among white voters.

This research conducted 100% by telephone, "cell" respondents included: SurveyUSA interviewed 675 registered voters from California's 52nd Congressional District 09/11/14 through 09/15/14, using Registration Based Sample (RBS, also known as "voter list sample") provided by Aristotle of Washington DC. Of the registered voters, SurveyUSA determined that 559 were likely to vote in the 11/04/14 general election. This research was conducted 100% by telephone. Respondents reachable on a home telephone were interviewed on their home telephone in the recorded voice of a professional announcer. Respondents not reachable on a home telephone were called on their cell-phones, by live operators who hand-dialed the respondents, secured their cooperation, conducted the interview, and who remained on the call until the completion of the interview.