Two polls released Wednesday indicate El Paso congressman Beto O'Rourke is closing in on Sen. Ted Cruz's lead in the Texas Senate race.
According to newly released data from the Texas Lyceum poll, the Republican senator is still ahead of the Democratic congressman with a two percent lead. That's a much smaller lead than previous polls showed. It also suggests the race is a dead heat with the poll's margin of error at plus or minus 4.67 percentage points.
The survey shows Cruz with 41 percent of likely voters, O'Rourke with 39 percent and 19 percent undecided. This is the closest O'Rourke has ever been to closing that gap.
A Quinnipiac University Poll, also released Wednesday, showed Cruz leading 49 to 43 percentage points. That's also a smaller advantage than their previous poll, released on May 30, showed. At that time, the poll indicated Cruz had a 50 to 39 percent lead over O'Rourke.
The Texas Lyceum Poll conducted a phone survey of adults from July 9 to July 26. A total of 1,178 adults were surveyed, 806 registered voters and 441 likely voters.
Both U.S. Senate candidates have agreed to five senate debates beginning at the end of the month in Dallas.
In the Texas governor’s race, Greg Abbott has a commanding lead over Democratic nominee and former Dallas County Sheriff, Lupe Valdez, 47 to 31 percent, with 22 percent of likely voters undecided.
At 39-29, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick leads his Democratic challenger, Houston area accountant Mike Collier, with a 10 point lead, with 28 percent undecided.
In the race for Texas attorney general, 38 percent of likely voters are currently unable to make a choice between the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian nominees.
Republican incumbent Ken Paxton holds a 10-point lead over his Democratic challenger, Houston attorney and law professor Justin Nelson with 35–25 percent.
Last month, Cruz proposed five debates, the first in Dallas on August 31. In a letter to the Cruz campaign last week, O’Rourke accepted the Senator’s proposed five debates and suggested a sixth one in El Paso, where O’Rourke is from.