Two new polls released in the last week show a close battle for second place in the race for California governor, with Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom continuing to lead the field.

One public poll conducted for the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education found Newsom, a Democrat, in the lead with 25 percent, followed by Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Los Angeles mayor, at 10 percent, Republican John Cox, a San Diego County businessman, at 9 percent, Democrat John Chiang, the state treasurer, at 8 percent, and Republican Travis Allen, a state assemblyman, at 7 percent. Drawing up the rear were Democrat Delaine Eastin, the former state schools chief, at 5 percent, and Republican Doug Ose, a former congressman, at 3 percent. The poll surveyed 2,500 registered voters in California.

An internal poll conducted by David Binder Research for Newsom’s campaign, released exclusively to the Bay Area News Group on Wednesday, found similar numbers: Newsom at 30 percent, Villaraigosa and Chiang at 11 percent, and Cox at 7 percent. Eastin, Allen, and Ose were all tied at 4 percent. It surveyed 800 likely voters around the state.

Other recent polls have found a narrowing race, with Villaraigosa ahead of the rest of the pack and nipping at Newsom’s heels. The USC and Newsom campaign polls — which were both conducted online — had a key difference: neither listed Villaraigosa as the former mayor of L.A. Instead, he was introduced to respondents as a “businessman” and “entrepreneur/small businessperson.”

While the candidate titles that will appear on the ballot haven’t been finalized yet, Villaraigosa won’t be able to describe himself as a former mayor. State election rules say ballot titles must list a candidate’s current “profession, vocation, or occupation,” and specifically ban the use of words like former and past. (Eastin was described as an “educator” and “education non-profit director” in each poll.)

A Villaraigosa spokesman argued that online surveys tend to oversample wealthier voters, who have been more likely to back Newsom, and said the campaign will not use “businessman” as Villaraigosa’s ballot title. “In any event, statewide races where the candidates will have high name ID are not decided on ballot designation,” he said in an email.

The top two candidates in the June 5 primary, regardless of their party affiliation, will go on to the November general election.

The USC poll was conducted by Tulchin Research and Moore Information Online Research between Jan. 21 and Jan. 28, with a margin of error of plus and minus 2 percent. The Newsom poll was conducted between Jan. 31 and Feb. 4, and had a margin of error of plus and minus 3.5 percent.