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Former President Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden by twice his margin of victory in the Lone Star State four years ago in the contest for Texas’ 40 electoral votes, according to a new poll.
A Marist College survey released on Tuesday shows Republican Sen. Ted Cruz leading Democratic opponent Rep. Colin Allred by six points in a crucial Senate contest as the GOP looks to recapture the majority in the chamber in November’s elections.
In 2020, Trump defeated Biden in Texas by about 5.5 points, the narrowest victory margin for a Republican presidential candidate in a deeply red state in almost 25 years, Fox News noted.
However, among registered voters, the former president leads his successor in the White House by 11 points (55%–44%), according to the Marist poll, which was conducted from March 18–21.
However, Trump’s advantage among those who say they will definitely cast a ballot in the November election drops to 7 points (53%–46%).
“Independents, who Biden carried by 6 percentage points in 2020, now break for Trump. Trump receives 56% of Texas independents to 41% for Biden,” the release from Marist highlights.
According to the poll, Trump has significantly increased his support among Black and Latino voters, while Biden appears to have lost ground with younger voters.
According to the survey, Trump is leading Biden by 48%, Kennedy is trailing at 15%, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democrat who turned independent, is among the three potential presidential candidates.
Kennedy, an environmentalist, prominent opponent of vaccines, and the descendant of the most well-known political family in the country, is still not allowed to vote in Texas.
According to the poll, Cruz, the conservative firebrand seeking a third six-year term in the Senate to represent Texas, leads Allred 51% to 45% of registered voters.
Allred is a three-term congressman from a suburban Dallas district and a former NFL player. Cruz leads Allred by about the same margin among likely voters.
“Among independents, Cruz (50%) is up by eight percentage points against Allred (42%),” a release from Marist spotlights. “There is a wide gender gap. Cruz (59%) carries men by 21 percentage points over Allred (38%). Allred (52%) tops Cruz (44%) among women.”
Allred is not well known, even though the contentious Cruz has a 45%–43% favorable/unfavorable rating in the most recent poll. Of those surveyed, 53% claimed not to have heard of Allred at all or that they didn’t know enough about him to respond to the question.
With 27% of voters, immigration was the most pressing concern in Texas, a state that borders Mexico by 1,254 miles.
The survey found that maintaining democracy (ranked first at 24%) and inflation (ranked second at 26%) were the two most important issues.
Polling has not been good for Biden this month.
In a separate USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll, Trump defeated Biden 40% to 38%, drawing a near-tie in a volatile electorate as the candidates get underway.
A sizable portion of voters were dissatisfied with their options and receptive to being convinced, according to the first USA TODAY survey conducted since the two candidates secured their presidential nominations.
“Nearly eight months out, the election is not set yet. One in four of those surveyed said they might change their minds before November. That unsettled sentiment was bipartisan, including 14% of Biden voters and 15% of Trump voters,” USA Today reported.
The outlet added: “Most of those now backing a third-party candidate said they were open to changing their minds, among them 75% of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supporters and 94% of Jill Stein supporters. That signals the potential erosion that independent candidates often see as Election Day nears. It also provides a big opportunity for each major-party candidate to make his case to voters who are now reluctant to support him and to convince those voters that it would be dangerous or unwise to back the other guy.”
Concerns about immigration (24%) and challenges to democracy (23%) trailed closely behind voters’ rankings of inflation and the economy, which accounted for 29% of their vote.
Abortion was the only other topic to reach double digits, coming in at 10%.
Another new survey shows Biden falling further behind Trump on the issues voters care most about this election year.
According to the ABC/Ipsos poll conducted between March 8 and 9, 36 percent of respondents said that they trusted Trump compared to 33 percent who said they trusted Biden, while 30 percent said neither candidate had their trust.
Trump received higher ratings than Biden on all issues except abortion and climate change when respondents were asked about their opinions on the job performance of both presidents.
Trump garnered a 49 percent favorable rating on the economy, contrasting with Biden’s 37 percent.
Regarding inflation, 45 percent approved of Trump, compared to 31 percent for Biden. Regarding crime, Trump was viewed more favorably at 41 percent compared to Biden’s 35 percent.
Similarly, on immigration, the former president received a 45 percent favorable rating, while Biden trailed with 29 percent.
