Good morning.

(Want to get California Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

The good news for Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat seeking re-election, is that she is leading her opponent Kevin de León by a lot in a poll released last week: 46 percent to 24 percent. The perhaps not-so-good news is that once again, Ms. Feinstein has failed to attract more than 50 percent of the electorate in a poll.

There’s a pattern here. Back in September, in another poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, 50 percent of voters said they preferred that Ms. Feinstein, 85, not run again. In the June primary, she won in a crowded field, but with 44 percent of the vote. The executive committee of the California Democratic Party gave Mr. de León, who is also a Democrat, its official nomination in early July.

At first glance, it would seem that Ms. Feinstein would fit the definition of a time-for-her-to-go incumbent during this era of strong anti-incumbent sentiment. But in truth, probably not.

“Voters are completely lukewarm toward her,” said Mike Murphy, a national Republican consultant based in Los Angeles. “If she had a real primary opponent with money and a story, she would have had the race of her life. She is stumbling forward without a lot of support but with the right letter after her name.”