Poll: Ted Cruz lead narrows in Texas Senate race that appears to be tightening

William Cummings | USA TODAY

Incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz is maintaining a lead over the Democratic challenger for his seat, but the Texas Republican's advantage is shrinking, according to a poll released Wednesday that gauges voter sentiment heading into the November election.

Cruz leads Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, 49-43 percent, the Quinnipiac University poll found. That represents a tightening of the race after a May 30 poll from Quinnipiac found Cruz leading O'Rourke 50-39 percent.

There were major splits along party lines, gender and race. Men favored Cruz while women went for O'Rourke. White voters supported Cruz while O'Rourke led with blacks and Latinos.

Republicans went for Cruz 89 to 5 percent, while Democrats backed O'Rourke 90 to 5 percent. Independent voters were split with both candidates getting 46 percent.

Twenty-six percent of the Texas voters surveyed ranked immigration as the top issue for them. Twenty-three percent picked the economy. Eighteen percent listed healthcare as the priority, and 13 percent went with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll said Cruz's lead is "by no means overwhelming."

"O'Rourke has done a good job making the race competitive," Brown said. "With three months until Election Day, he is clearly in contention. A Democratic victory in the Lone Star state would be a serious blow to GOP hopes of keeping their U.S. Senate majority."

President Donald Trump's job performance got a favorable nod from 46 percent of the people surveyed, while 49 percent said they disapproved.

The pollsters contacted 1,118 Texas voters on landlines and cell phones from July 26-31. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percent.



