In the race for one of the most liberal districts in the country, Democratic activist Norman Solomon released an internal poll that found him firmly in second place and just 5 points behind the frontrunner, Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D).

The poll, conducted by Lake Research Partners, was released to contradict a Huffman poll out last week that found the candidate with three times as much support as Solomon in the race for California’s 2nd district. Both polls showed Dan Roberts, the only Republican in the race, well-positioned to make it past the “jungle” primary.

In the Lake Research Partners poll, Huffman took 16 percent, followed by Roberts with 12 percent, Solomon with 11 percent and Marin County Supervisor Susan Adams and former tech executive Stacey Lawson with 4 percent each.

Lake Research Partners pollsters David Mermin and Shilpa Grover wrote in the polling memo that with plenty of time before the June primary, “Solomon is in a good position to close the narrow gap with Huffman and advance to the top-two runoff.”

Huffman consultant Andrew Acosta responded, saying that “a push poll that still has Norm losing shows just how much work his campaign will need to do.”

The poll was taken of 400 likely 2nd district voters, plus an oversample of 50 voters in Humboldt and Mendocino counties, from Oct. 18 to 20. It carried a 4.9-point margin of error.