POLL: Cruz Leading in Texas

A new poll has Ted Cruz leading in Texas with a sizable 37 percent according to a new University of Texas and Texas Tribune poll.

With only a week before the March 1 Super Tuesday primary, which includes the primary in Texas, Senator Cruz is 8 points over Donald Trump.

The race for Texas delegates now appears to be a 2-person race. Cruz is polling at 37 percent while Trump has 29 percent, and U.S. Marco Rubio polled a distant third at 15 percent.

Of those who identified with the label “Tea Party voter,” 56 percent preferred Cruz. This compares to 26 percent for Trump, and approximately 8 percent for Rubio.

According to the poll, the other Republican presidential candidates, including Jeb Bush who dropped out after last weekend’s South Carolina primary, are not in the running.

Jeb Bush garnered 6 percent, John Kasich 5 percent, and Ben Carson 4 percent.

The other candidates who were previously in the race but are no longer running are: Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, Elizabeth Gray, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee and Chris Christie. Each of these candidates garnered 2 percent or less. All of the candidates are still on the March 1 ballot in Texas.

The poll was created right before the South Carolina primary and the decision by Jeb Bush to withdraw from the race could change the result.

The poll canvassed 1371 respondents who were interviewed between February 12 and February 19. The respondents were categorized by gender, age, race, education, party identification, ideology, and political interest.

The top three place candidates could end up sharing the 155 Texas Republican delegates because the Lone Star State is not a winner-take-all state. The state has a very complicated system for awarding the sharing of the delegates.

The Texas senator is leading in all age groups, especially voters ages 18 to 29, and ages 30 to 44.

Trump is close in the 45 to 64 age group, but Cruz has almost a 10 point advantage with seniors over 65 years of age. Marco Rubio polled well with 21 percent of the senior age group.

According to the Texas Tribune, those supporting Ted Cruz and Donald Trump were very committed to their candidate. More than two-thirds of those polled said they were “extremely certain” they would vote for their candidate. Rubio voters came in at 41 percent in that category, with 29 percent for Carson, 27 percent for Kasich, and Bush 22 at percent.

This article has been updated with additional information.

Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2