The University of Texas at Tyler has released polling data showing Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) right behind Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the unfolding Senate race that seems likely to come down to the two men in next year’s general election.
Even though 48 percent of the overall total of respondents said they didn’t even know enough to form an opinion when asked whether they viewed Allred favorably, Allred was only five percent behind Cruz when pitted against each other, and the margin of error — accommodating for a range of potential results — was three percent. Allred, an ex-football player who has been direct in lambasting Cruz since unveiling his campaign, was only right outside that margin. In total, Cruz had 42 percent of the support, with Allred at 37 percent. The two were identified alongside their political party affiliations in questions to participants.
Allred led by one percent among independents, though one-fourth said they didn’t know who they’d select. He was tied with Cruz among poll participants identified as Latino and led among Black respondents. Cruz, meanwhile, was ahead by 15 percent with poll respondents identified as white. When asked whether they had a favorable view of Cruz, 49 percent of overall respondents said no.
Cruz has distinguished himself in office through means like seeming suspiciously ready to get into verbal altercations with bystanders challenging him on gun control and joining the effort to block electoral votes won by Biden in the 2020 presidential race when the outcome of that election was up for Congressional certification. Cruz pushed a false narrative that there was some kind of meaningful gap in the investigations into the integrity of that election that had already been done. The new poll ran from May 10 through May 21.
