U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz leads U.S. Rep. Colin Allred by 11 percentage points in the race for the Senate, according to a new poll.
Cruz (R-TX) bested Allred (D-TX) at 45% to 34% in a June poll released by the University of Texas. Another 6% said they supported a different candidate, and 14% said they had no opinion. The university’s poll has consistently shown Cruz dominating the U.S. Senate race, leading by 13 percentage points in April, 14 points in February, and 16 points in December.
The RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls in the race shows Cruz with a lead of 8 percentage points. A poll from the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation earlier this month showed Cruz leading by 5 percentage points.
Cruz has focused his campaign on depicting his opponent as a radical leftist.
“Colin Allred and the Democrats have proved to Texans that they don’t care about their well-being, safety, or wallets,” a Cruz campaign spokesperson previously told The Dallas Express. “Colin Allred is a radical who will cripple our oil and gas industry, prioritize criminals over law-abiding citizens, and continue Biden’s reckless open-borders agenda, which is why there is no doubt that Texans will resoundingly reject Colin and re-elect Senator Cruz in November.”
Allred’s campaign has countered the incumbent by describing him as “self-serving.”
“Unfortunately, Washington, D.C., is full of ‘me-guys,’ but no one — and I know this from my six years now in Congress — no one is more self-serving, more disconnected from Texans’ needs than Ted Cruz,” Allred said at the Texas Democratic Party convention this month, according to the San Antonio Express-News. “We don’t have to be embarrassed by our senator. We can get a new one.”
The University of Texas poll found former President Donald Trump leading President Joe Biden head-to-head in Texas at 46% to 39%.
The poll determined Texans were more likely to support Trump after he was found guilty last month of falsifying business records in New York. This included 36% of respondents who said the case increased their support for Trump, compared to 27% who said it decreased their support. However, 48% of respondents said the trial was fair, while 40% said it was not fair.
A five-way race in the poll showed Trump as the top contender with 43% support, followed by Biden with 34%, and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in third with 8%.
The poll listed the most important issues for respondents: 22% said immigration, 18% said the economy, 14% said inflation, and 6% said abortion.