In a new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California, 60 percent of adults said universal health coverage should be a high or very high priority.

“The election polls indicated that health care was a major concern for Californians," said Mark Baldassare, president of PPIC. "And that seems to be reflected here."

Governor-elect Gavin Newsom often campaigned on universal health coverage. But another one of his priorities, universal preschool, gets less support from Californians. Just 48 percent of adults said it should be a top priority for new state funding. There's more interest on the other end of the education spectrum. Fifty-three percent of adults believe the state should provide tuition-free community college.

All of these initiatives would be expensive, and Baldassare said there's no consensus on how to pay for them.

"About half of Californians say that they're willing to pay higher taxes and have more services. But almost as many say that they're not," he said. "So therein lies the challenge for the governor-elect and the Legislature."