Poll: Cruz Leads O'Rourke in Texas Race

Nationwide, Democrat's chances for a majority are shrinking
By Luke Roney,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 26, 2018 3:52 PM CDT
Poll: Cruz Leads O'Rourke in Texas Race
Matthew Allen, 7, sits and listens a during a campaign stop for Ted Cruz.   (Chelsea Purgahn/Tyler Morning Telegraph via AP)

Republican Ted Cruz is leading Democrat Beto O'Rourke by six points in the Texas senate race, according to a new poll by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune. Of those likely voters polled, 51% say they'd vote for incumbent Cruz, while 45% say they are supporting challenger O'Rourke; 2% say they will vote for Libertarian Neal Dikeman, with the remaining 2% saying they will vote for someone else. The candidates have been working to "mobilize their partisans, without a lot of attempt to get voters to cross over," says poll Co-director Jim Henson. "And it looks like they've done that." Independent voters, which the Tribune notes often lean Republican, are supporting O'Rourke over Cruz, 51% to 39%, respectively.

Overall, it's looking less and less like that Democrats will gain a majority in the Senate, writes Jennifer E. Duffy in the Cook Political Report, adding that it's now appears possible, "for the first time in months," that Republicans will gain a seat or two. Some Democratic strategists, Duffy writes, have conceded that the going has become tougher following Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, less than two weeks from the election, billionaire and newly re-registered Democrat Michael Bloomberg has given an additional $10 million to his super PAC, Independence USA, to support Democrats in the midterms, CBS reports. The latest contribution brings the former New York City mayor's total campaign spending to $110 million. (More midterm elections stories.)

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