Ted Cruz Gets A Boost Out Of Texas

Ted Cruz has scored a boost among Texas voters as he holds a substantial lead over his Democratic rival Colin Allred ahead of the U.S. Senate elections in November, according to a new poll.

The survey, conducted by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, shows that Cruz is leading on 46 percent of the vote, compared to Allred at 33 percent. Another 7 percent of respondents said they would vote for someone else, while 15 percent expressed no preference.

The findings also revealed that Cruz has an approval rating of 49 percent, compared to a disapproval rating of 38 percent. An additional 10 percent of respondents said they neither approved nor disapproved of Cruz, and 3 percent said they did not know.

Meanwhile, Allred, a former NFL star who represents Texas's 32nd congressional district, has a favorability rating of 36 percent and an unfavorable rating of 21 percent. Another 22 percent of respondents said their view of Allred was neither favorable nor unfavorable, and 21 percent did not have an opinion.

For the survey, YouGov interviewed 1,276 Texas registered voters between April 12 and April 22, 2024, who were then matched down to a sample of 1,200 to produce the final dataset. The margin of error was +/-2.83 percent.

A separate poll, carried out by Cyngal last month, also found that Cruz was leading Allred by 45 percent to 36 percent. The poll was carried out on 1,000 likely general election voters in Texas between April 4 and 6.

Newsweek has contacted Ted Cruz and Colin Allred for comment outside of normal working hours.

In a previous statement provided to Newsweek, a Cruz campaign spokesperson said: "Senator Cruz has spent his time in the Senate fighting for policies that promote jobs, freedom, and opportunity for Texans. Senator Cruz's legislative work, much of it bipartisan, has had a major impact on the Lone Star State, and we are confident that Texans will choose him to represent them once again in the Senate so he can continue to deliver these crucial victories.

"Senator Cruz will keep working day in and day out, meeting and talking to Texans in every corner of the state to keep Texas, Texas."

Allred's campaign website states: "Texans are fed up with the divisive politics of Ted Cruz that pits Texans against each other. We deserve a Senator who doesn't jet off to Cancun while Texans are freezing in the dark. And we deserve a Senator who cares more about your job, your health care, your retirement and your kids' education than hosting a podcast three times a week.

"Colin Allred is running for Senate because Texans can't afford six more years of Ted Cruz. He will give Texans the honest, pragmatic leadership they deserve in the Senate."

In 2018, Cruz beat his Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke by less than 3 percent to secure re-election to the Senate in a tightly fought contest.

Currently, the Democrats have a 51-49 advantage in the Senate, including three independents who caucus with them, but Republicans are hoping to seize control in November and a Cruz defeat would be a blow to these plans.

Speaking to Fox News in February, the Republican Senator said he was the Democrats' "number one target" in November, adding: "I will say my race here in Texas is a battleground race."

Separately, the Texas Politics Project poll also revealed in separate data that Donald Trump maintains a comfortable lead over President Joe Biden in Texas, leading 45 percent to 36 percent.

Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. scored 8 percent of the vote; Cornel West, an independent, and Jill Stein, of the Green Party, both scored 2 percent; and 7 percent of respondents did not have an opinion.