Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Texas Governor Greg Abbott are smoking their Democrat opponents, a new poll conducted by Gravis Marketing and provided to Breitbart News exclusively ahead of its public release shows.
Cruz, up for re-election this year, is 9 percent ahead Democratic challenger Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX). At 51 percent, Cruz towers overs O’Rourke’s 42 percent–with just 7 percent undecided.
In the governor’s race, Abbott fares even better–leading his Democratic challenger Lupe Valdez by 10 percent. Abbott’s 51 percent is much better than Valdez’s 41 percent, with 8 percent undecided.
Both of the Republicans’ job approval ratings are solid in the state, too. A whopping 47 percent either strongly or somewhat approve of Cruz’s job performance, while just 44 percent either strongly or somewhat disapprove with 10 percent uncertain. Even more–52 percent–either strongly or somewhat approve of Abbott’s performance, while just 39 percent either strongly or somewhat disapprove with 9 percent uncertain.
Lifting the GOP in the state is President Donald Trump’s high approval rating of 51 percent either strongly or somewhat approving of the job the president is doing, while just 44 percent either strongly or somewhat disapprove of Trump and 5 percent are uncertain.
The survey of 602 likely Texas voters was conducted between July 3 and July 7, and has a margin of error of 4 percent.
While Republicans at the top of the ticket are faring much better than Democrats, down-ticket the survey shows closer races. In the Lieutenant Governor race, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick–a Republican–leads Democrat challenger Mike Collier by just two points, 46 percent to 44 percent with 10 percent undecided. Similarly, in the Attorney General race, GOP incumbent Ken Paxton at 45 percent leads Democrat challenger Justin Nelson, at 41 percent, by just 4 percent–with 14 percent undecided.
The survey also has a lot of good news for Republicans on issues and major political points of debate in the midterm elections. An overwhelming plurality of 48 percent of those surveyed said they were less likely to support anyone for Congress if they would back House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker of the House, while just 25 percent were more likely and 27 percent were uncertain.
Forty-four percent were less likely to back anyone who supports impeaching President Trump, while 42 percent were more likely and 14 percent were uncertain. In addition, 39 percent approve of the effects of the tax reform effort Trump and congressional Republicans led last year–while less, 38 percent, disapprove. Twenty-three percent are uncertain.
Also, 52 percent either strongly or somewhat disapprove of the job performance of the mainstream media–36 percent strongly opposed–while just 39 percent strongly or somewhat approved of the media. Just 18 percent strongly approved of the media. Ten percent are uncertain on the media.
The news that Republicans are again pouring cold water on Democrats’ dreams of flipping Texas, as evidenced by this poll, undercuts a narrative put forward by that very same establishment media Texans by and large disapprove of: That somehow Beto O’Rourke, a far leftist progressive, is going to beat Cruz in November.
Just Monday morning, Politico’s lead story claimed “Beto-Mania” was sweeping the Lone Star state. In it, filed from Fort Worth, Politico’s Ben Schreckinger argues that despite being a “longshot bid” for O’Rourke that “something is catching here.”
Schreckinger wrote:
Beto O’Rourke is running to replace Ted Cruz. Literally. Sweat pours off his lean, 6’ 4”-frame as the El Paso Democrat jogs along the southern bank of the Trinity River surrounded by 300-odd supporters and curious voters jogging along with him. Incredibly, they have shown up at 8 a.m. on a Sunday to join him for a double shot of politics and cardio. In between panting breaths, O’Rourke explains to me the origins of this novel campaign event, which has him running several miles under the Texas sun, stopping in the middle to take questions and lingering at the end to pose for selfies. “Some sadistic member of our team,” he recalls, “was like, ‘So we’re doing like six town halls a day in six different counties. We’re driving hundreds of miles every day, we’re visiting all 254 counties. What more could we do? Ah, get up earlier and have running town halls.’”
But, even the establishment media bastion that is Politico cautions that leftists’ dreams of flipping Texas are a fantasy at best:
It’s a lot to hope for. Cruz is among the country’s shrewdest politicians. He may be reviled in Washington and on the left, but his approval rating remains above water in most polls of Texas, which has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988. Liberals have been fantasizing about turning the state blue for a decade, to no avail. And Cruz retains a double-digit lead in recent polls.
Chalk this poll from Gravis Marketing up to yet another nail in the O’Rourke-media narrative that Democrats somehow have a shot in Texas.
Texas%2c July 8%2c 2018 by BreitbartTexas on Scribd
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