Talarico Leads Paxton 48%-46% in Texas Senate Poll as Early Voting Opens
Updated
Updated · Houston Public Media · Oct 18
Talarico Leads Paxton 48%-46% in Texas Senate Poll as Early Voting Opens
3 articles · Updated · Houston Public Media · Oct 18
Summary
A University of Houston poll puts Democrat James Talarico at 48% and Republican Ken Paxton at 46% among likely Texas Senate voters, with early voting starting Monday and the 2-point gap sitting within the survey’s 2% margin of error.
Sixty percent of independents back Talarico versus 32% for Paxton, while Paxton holds only 88% of likely Republicans and loses 6% of them to Talarico; Democrats are nearly unified behind Talarico at 98%.
Rice University’s Mark Jones said Talarico is posting the strongest late-campaign showing for a Texas Democrat in decades, citing Paxton’s controversial image, Donald Trump’s underwater Texas ratings and the race’s stakes for Senate control.
The same survey still shows Republicans ahead in most other statewide contests, though by slimmer-than-usual margins, with the closest other race the Railroad Commission contest where Bo French leads Jon Rosenthal 45%-43%.