First in The Blast: Democrat Beto O'Rourke trails U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by 6 percentage points, according to a new poll commissioned by Giffords, the gun control group started by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.

The survey, done by the left-leaning firm Public Policy Polling, found Cruz leading O'Rourke 48-42 percent, with 10 percent undecided. O'Rourke's deficit narrowed to 1 point — 44-45 percent — after respondents were read a series of statements about his and Cruz's positions on guns, including O'Rourke's support for an assault weapons ban.

Cruz has seized on that support to criticize O'Rourke as too liberal for Texas, saying he's campaigning on "aggressive gun control." But the poll found a majority of voters — 51 percent — were much or somewhat more likely to get behind O'Rourke after hearing that he wants to outlaw assault weapons.

A couple other findings from the survey:

• A majority — 52 percent — generally want stronger gun laws. That's compared to 33 percent who are fine with the laws as they are now, 13 percent who want weaker laws and 2 percent who are unsure.

• A small plurality, 40-37 percent, say they are less likely than more likely to vote for a candidate who has an A rating from the National Rifle Association. Cruz regularly gets high marks from the NRA, and on the campaign trail, he highlights how O'Rourke has bragged about his F rating from the group.

"As our country’s in the midst of having this big national conversation about gun safety, and particularly in the wake of Santa Fe, it’s striking to us that voters in a state like Texas ... said they are ready for leaders in the Senate who are going to take action and address our nation’s gun violence crisis," Giffords political director Isabelle James, told us. The group, she added, decided to poll Texans on the race and guns after the deadly Santa Fe High School shooting last month, which left 10 people dead.

The poll surveyed 861 Texas voters from May 21-22 using automated telephone interviews. It had a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percentage points.

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