More than half of likely voters, 54 percent, supported Sen. Ted Cruz compared to 45 percent who backed Beto O'Rourke. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images elections Poll: Cruz leading O’Rourke by 9 points

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz leads Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke by 9 percentage points in a new poll released by Quinnipiac University on Tuesday.

More than half of likely voters, 54 percent, supported Cruz compared to 45 percent who backed O'Rourke, according to the new poll, a comfortable lead for the first-term incumbent after several recent polls showed O'Rourke trailing narrowly.


Among likely voters, Cruz had a favorability rating of 52 percent compared to 43 percent who viewed him unfavorably. O'Rourke was viewed favorably by 43 percent of likely voters and unfavorably by 42 percent.

Immigration was the most important issue in the Senate race for 27 percent of voters, while 21 percent listed health care as their top issue.

In the governor's race, incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott held a commanding 58-39 lead over Democrat Lupe Valdez.

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President Trump's approval rating was even among likely voters, with 49 percent approving and disapproving of his job performance.

Quinnipiac surveyed 807 likely voters from September 11-17 with a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.