Biden holds 10-point lead in Texas poll, Warren moves into second past O’Rourke

Former Vice President Joe Biden leads a new survey of Texas voters by Quinnipiac University Poll by 10 points, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) follows in second place. 

The survey, which was released on Wednesday, shows Biden leading with 28 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters, while Warren trails at 18 percent, surpassing fellow progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D).

{mosads}Sanders and O’Rourke garnered 12 percent support, respectively, from Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters, according to the survey. 

The poll shows gains for Warren, who came in at 11 percent support in the Quinnipiac survey conducted in the state last June. The same survey showed Biden at 30 percent and O’Rourke at 16 percent. Sanders carried 15 percent support. 

The September survey shows Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) followed with 5 percent support, while South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, who is the former mayor of San Antonio, each garnered 3 percent support. 

The survey comes as Democrats set their sights on the Lone Star State ahead of the 2020 elections, looking to make gains at the House, Senate and presidential levels. 

O’Rourke narrowly lost to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the 2018 midterm elections, losing by roughly 2 points. 

But the latest poll does not appear to bode well for O’Rourke in his home state. A number of Democrats have pushed O’Rourke to challenge Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) in 2020, arguing that he has a greater chance of victory in that race.

O’Rourke said last month that he would not “in any scenario” run for Senate in 2020. 

Quinnipiac University Poll conducted its survey from Sept. 4-9 among 1,410 self-identified registered voters in Texas. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.