President Trump and Sen. John Cornyn are facing tight re-election races in Texas this November, new polling released Tuesday shows.
Both presidential candidates are about even, according to a survey of 907 Texas voters last week by Progress Texas, a progressive media and advocacy organization.
The survey, conducted by Public Policy Polling, shows 46 percent of Texas voters would vote for Biden and 48 percent would vote for Trump.
It’s the third poll this month showing a tight race for Trump in Texas; two polls in early June, one by Public Policy Polling and another by Quinnipiac University, also showed Trump and Biden evenly matched in Texas.
“Texas voters are fed up with Texas Republicans’ lack of action on the COVID-19 health care crisis, mass unemployment, and systemic racism that communities face every day,” said Tara Pohlmeyer, communications director at Progress Texas. “We’re ready to defeat extremist conservatives like Donald Trump and John Cornyn up and down the ballot, and these poll results show that Texas Democrats are within striking distance. Now is the time to organize, continue to rally for change, and vote.”
In the same poll released this week, 45 percent of Texas voters said they would vote for a Democratic candidate in a generic ballot for U.S. Senate and 47 percent said they would vote for a Republican candidate (the runoff race between the two Democratic candidates, MJ Hegar and state Sen. Royce West continues).
The recent numbers may explain Trump’s visit to Texas two weeks ago, where he attended a roundtable on rebuilding the economy and traveled to a high-dollar fundraiser where tickets were priced at $580,600 per couple.
The president has also ramped up spending on targeted Facebook ads in Texas, according to data from Bully Pulpit Interactive.
It’s unclear how successful Trump’s recent movement to win back Texans is. Polling from Public Policy Polling shows the president’s approval rating floating around 46 to 48 percent in recent months, not too far from his national average, which stands at an anemic 43 percent.
Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
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
