(The Hill) — Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz leads Democratic Rep. Colin Allred in the state’s Senate race by 4 points in a new Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey.
The poll showed Cruz leading with 49% to Allred’s 45%, with 6% undecided. That’s an increase of one point for each candidate compared to the poll from earlier this month.
Pollsters found Cruz has an advantage in name recognition while Allred is ahead with his overall favorability rating. Half of voters view Cruz unfavorably, while 48% view him favorably, giving him a net favorability rating just underwater.
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Allred is viewed favorably by 44% and unfavorably by 40%, but 15% said they have not heard of him. Only 2% said they have not heard of Cruz.
Cruz is seeking his third term in office as Texas’ junior senator, but Democrats are hoping for the opportunity to oust him with Allred. The map of Senate seats up for election this year grant many more pickup opportunities to Republicans than Democrats, but Democrats have hoped Texas could allow them to pull off an upset.
Other polls have shown a close race between the two candidates. Cruz leads Allred by about 3.5 points in the polling average from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.
A poll released Monday from the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation showed Cruz up by 3 points. But other polls have shown larger leads for Cruz, like one from the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project that gave Cruz an 8-point lead.
The poll from Emerson and The Hill was conducted from Sept. 22-24 among 950 likely voters. The margin of error was 3.1 points.
