Just how close is it? New TX poll shows tight Senate race between Ted Cruz, Colin Allred
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s Democratic opponent in the November election trails by 3 percentage points, according to a new poll.
State Rep. Colin Allred, a Dallas Democrat challenging the longtime Republican for his U.S. Senate seat, has the support of 44% of likely Texas voters, according to a University of Houston and Texas Southern University poll released Thursday. Cruz has the support of 47% of likely voters, the poll found.
The margins are closer than some other recent polls, which have put Cruz ahead with a double-digit lead. Other polls have also had the two candidates separated by 3 to 4 percentage points, according to 538.
Cruz was last on the ballot in 2018 when he defeated Democrat Beto O’Rourke, a former El Paso congressman, with 50.9% of votes to O’Rourke’s 48.3%.
The University of Houston and Texas Southern University poll surveyed 1,484 likely voters between June 20 and July 1 and has a 2.5% margin of error.
The poll also asked Texans their thoughts on the matchup between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties.
Forty-nine percent of likely Texas voters said they planned to voter for Trump, a Republican, and 40% said they’d support Biden, a Democrat.
The poll notes that about two-thirds of its fieldwork was done before the June 27 debate between Biden and Trump.
Biden’s performance has led some in his own party to call for the president to step aside.
Eight Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives had asked Biden to drop out of the race as of Wednesday afternoon. That includes Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett, an Austin Democrat, who was the first Democrat in Congress to publicly request that Biden withdraw, according to the Associated Press.
Biden has said he’s staying in the race.
Trump defeated Biden Texas in 2020 with 52.1% of votes to Biden’s 46.5%.
Immigration is the top issue in the presidential race for likely Texas voters and for likely Trump voters, the poll found. Twenty-three percent of likely voters named immigration and border security as the most important issue influencing their presidential vote. The number grew to 40% among likely Trump voters.
Other issues influencing voter’s presidential pick include the economy and inflation, the future of U.S. democracy and abortion.
Twenty-seven percent of likely Biden voters picked the future of U.S. democracy as the top issue influencing their presidential candidate vote.
