By Mike Luery

UPDATED 9:22 AM PDT Mar 28, 2016

1,500 California voters surveyed by USC Dornsife, Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —A new poll conducted by USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles Times shows a dramatic shift in the political winds in California, with Donald Trump now leading the Republican pack.

The poll, conducted primarily by cellphone between March 16-23, includes a significant oversample of Latino voters and has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

Three months ago, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was the leading Republican candidate in California, but the poll now shows Trump on top, with 37 percent support. Cruz is second with 30 percent support while Ohio Gov. John Kasich trails with 12 percent.

"It seems if not reluctantly, Republican voters are coming to the conclusion that Donald Trump is going to be the likely nominee," said Mike Madrid, co-director of the poll.

Undecided voter Cyndi Webster told KCRA 3, "I was a fan of Donald Trump when he was on television doing his television show. I think he's a great businessman." But Webster explained that voting for Trump is a different story.

"Maybe he would be great for business," she said. "Politically I don't think so. So It's scary. It's scary to think of Donald Trump in office."

If Trump wins the nomination, he will likely face former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the fall.

"On the one hand we want Trump to win because we think he's the easiest candidate to beat," Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio said. "On the other hand we're scared to death that he could actually become president."

The poll also shows strong resistance to Trump within his own party. Of those Californians polled, 27 percent said they would never vote for him in November.

"Usually what you'll see is people saying, 'I would never vote for the nominee' at maybe 10 percent," Madrid told KCRA 3. "Fourteen percent would be extremely high. This is double that."

Clinton also has very high negative numbers. The poll shows 13 percent of California Democrats said they would never vote for Clinton, Madrid told KCRA 3.

"Both candidates are setting all-time highs for negative ratings in the era of modern polling," Madrid said. "In fact you could say Hillary Clinton is the most unpopular candidate running for president in the last 50 years with one exception -- and that exception is Donald Trump."

"What that tells you is that the fall campaign, if it's between Trump and Hillary, it's going to be very nasty," KCRA 3 political analyst Steve Swatt said.

A nasty campaign could trigger millions of dollars spent on negative ads.

"Trump is bringing out more voters," Swatt said. "Some (come out) to vote for him, but also some to vote against him."

With the top two candidates so polarizing to many voters, it could open the door to a potential third part candidacy.

"If we do have a third part candidate we may have a fourth party candidate," Madrid told KCRA 3. "We may see a multi-candidate field for the first time in modern history."

"The poll confirms what all of us know - that this is the strangest election in our lifetime," Eckery said.

"It might be a choice between the lesser of two evils for many people come November," Maviglio said.

"None of the above as of right now. It's scary where our country is going. That's why we come to church and pray. We're hoping God will save us," Cyndi Webster said.

California's Republican presidential primary is a hybrid system in which the statewide winner gets 10 delegates, but the bigger prize is the state's congressional districts.

Candidates are awarded three delegates for each congressional district they win, and with 53 districts in California, there are a total of 169 delegates at stake in the June 7th primary.

"For the Republicans for the first time in more than 50 years, California is in play, " Swatt told KCRA 3.

The USC/Los Angeles Times poll on Democrats in California will be released on Monday.