Cruz holds 4-point lead over Allred in Texas: Poll

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) leads Texas Rep. Colin Allred (D) in the state’s Senate race by 4 points in an Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey published Thursday. 

The poll showed Cruz leading with 49 percent to Allred’s 45 percent, with 6 percent undecided. That’s an increase of 1 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 percent view him favorably, putting net favorability rating just underwater. 

Allred is viewed favorably by 44 percent and unfavorably by 40 percent, but 15 percent said they have not heard of him. Only 2 percent said they have not heard of Cruz. 

Cruz is seeking his third term in office as Texas’s junior senator, but Democrats are hoping 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, such as one from the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project that gave Cruz an 8-point lead. 

The Emerson College/The Hill poll was conducted Sept. 22-24 among 950 likely voters. The margin of error was 3.1 percentage points.