Progressive Democratic candidate Julie Oliver is in a close race with her GOP incumbent opponent Rep. Roger Williams, a new internal poll finds.
The poll of 400 likely voters by EMC Research shows Oliver only two percentage points behind Williams, 45 to 43, with a 5-point margin of error.
The same poll shows Williams has higher name ID recognition compared to Oliver (53 to 42 percent) but the incumbent lawmaker suffers from favorable-unfavorable ratings that are almost equal (23-20).
“The results of this new poll reflect what I’ve been hearing from the people of Texas’ 25th District for months: After Congressman Roger Williams voted more than 50 times to take away healthcare from hundreds of thousands of Texans, the people of this district are ready for change,” Oliver said in a prepared statement reacting to the poll. “As a healthcare expert, I know that costs are too high and no one should go broke if they get sick — that’s why my campaign has the momentum in this race. While folks across this district were suffering, Congressman Williams used his political connections to funnel coronavirus relief money into his own business and his record of corruption will be rejected by the voters in November.”
Monday’s poll is the second survey this cycle showing the competitiveness of Texas’ 25th congressional district, held by Republicans since 2013.
A DCCC in-house poll in July showed the same margin between William and Oliver, 45 to 43.
Last week, Oliver received the endorsement of the climate political action group Sunrise Movement. Last month, she was among the progressive Texas candidates who joined Sen. Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke in a live-streamed discussion about fighting injustice in Texas.
Photo: Hays County Democratic Party
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
