With Super Tuesday just one week away, Ted Cruz remains the favorite to win his home state, according to a new poll.
Cruz is polling well in Texas. A survey published Tuesday by the University of Texas/Texas Tribune says he is 8 points in front of rival Republican candidate Donald Trump, with 37 percent support to Trump’s 29 percent. Texas has the most delegates of any March 1 primary state.
They are trailed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) with 15 percent support, followed by Jeb Bush (who has now dropped out of the race) at 6 percent. Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) and Dr. Ben Carson trail the field with 5 and 4 percent respectively.
Tea Party supporters overwhelmingly favor Cruz, 56 percent to Trump’s 26 percent. Rubio, though he ran for the Senate as a Tea Party-backed candidate, only grabbed 8 percent of citizens who identified with the constitutional conservative group.
Trump struggled the most with younger voters, according to the poll. He secured only 10 percent support from voters aged 18-29. His best performing age bracket fell in the 45-64 range.
Rubio’s most favorable age group came from the 65+ bracket.
Cruz led all age groups, but performed best with voters aged 30-44.
“These numbers reflect what most of us think was going on in Texas: It’s decent ground for Donald Trump because he’s a national candidate who’s touched a nerve everywhere, but it displays a little bit of a home field advantage for Ted Cruz,” said Daron Shaw, a UT professor who co-directed the poll.
The poll surveyed 1,200 registered voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3.48%
The UT/TT polling group also surveyed Democratic voters, finding that Hillary Clinton maintains a ten point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), 54-44 percent in the Lone Star State.