Republican advantage grows with Trump and Cruz still favored to win in Texas, pollster says
A new poll shows the potential for very little movement in the competitive Texas Senate race between Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Colin Allred of Dallas. North Texas Hispanic leaders discuss the impact of the Latino vote in Texas this year and Jason Allen is listening to voters across the state discuss the issues that matter to them in "The Texas State of Mind". These stories in the latest episode of Eye On Politics with Jack Fink. (original air date: October 20, 2024.)
New Texas poll
Early voting in Texas starts tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 21 and extends through Friday, Nov. 1.
All eyes are on the Texas Senate race between two-term Republican incumbent Senator Ted Cruz and his Democratic challenger, Congressman Colin Allred of Dallas.
A new poll for the Senate race by the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin shows Cruz leading Allred by seven percentage points, 51%-44%, a wider margin than the other recent polls.
The average of the past six polls listed in Real Clear Politics shows Cruz leading by 4.5 percentage points.
In the presidential race, the same poll shows former President Donald Trump leading Vice President Kamala Harris by five percentage points, 51%-46%.
Jack spoke with Dr. Joshua Blank, Research Director of the Texas Politics Project, about their new poll conducted between Oct. 2 - 10. There were 1,091 likely voters and the margin of error is +/- 2.97%.
Watch Jack's full interview with Joshua Blank:
Cruz and Allred Debate
Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Colin Allred squared off in Dallas last week in their one and only debate.
They butted heads over border security, abortion rights, and transgender athletes in high school and college sports among other issues. Days before their debate, they both spoke with Jack.
Battleground States Update
Now to the presidential race and a weekly look at the seven battleground states. There has been some movement in the Real Clear Politics average of polls since last week. Former President Donald Trump has a very small lead in each of these states.
In Arizona, Trump has his biggest lead over Vice President Kamala Harris, even though it's still razor thin: 1.4%, up from last week.
In Nevada, Trump has taken the lead by half 0.5%, which is different from last week when Harris lead by 1%.
In Georgia, Trump leads by 0.9%, about the same as last week.
There's also been a change in Wisconsin, where Trump now has the slightest edge possible, just 0.1%.
In Michigan, the former President got a slight bump from last week and is ahead by point nine percentage points.
He's also leading in Pennsylvania by 0.5%, a little higher than last week.
Trump is ahead by 1.0% over Vice President Harris in North Carolina.
Impact of Latino vote in Texas
In his interview with Jack, Dr. Blank told CBS News Texas that in the Lone Star State and nationally, the candidates are competing for Latino voters.
"This is true at the Presidential level and at the Senate level," said Blank. "I think the broader reason that I think Hispanics are a group that is more up for grabs has to do with the nature of this election."
For Hispanic Heritage Month, Jack sat down with three Latino leaders to talk about the issues resonating with voters in their communities.One of the issues brought to the table was the economy.
Former Republican State Representative Jason Villalba of Dallas, who's now an Independent and Chairman of the Board of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation was one of the three leaders who spoke with Jack.
"Immigration is not really one of the top issues Latinos really talk about," said Villalba. Based on a poll from he Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation, he says the economy is the top issue. "It is the jobs. It is the opportunity."
Dr. Blank mentioned the importance of the economy to Latino voters in his conversation with Jack.
Latino voters "tend to be more focused on pocketbook issues," said Blank. "Right now, when most voters tell us the economy is their biggest concern, their biggest issue, they remain extremely worried about prices. For most voters, if they're looking back at former President Trump's first term, I think at this point most of them are saying the economy was pretty good until the pandemic, and so if they're evaluating the economy, they see a Democrat in the White House. They think that Trump did a better job on that issue that is going to drive some support in his direction, and especially among Hispanic voters."
Former Dallas County Republican Party Vice Chair and now Precinct Chair Tina Aviles spoke on this during the conversation with Latino leaders.
"When you take this new kind of conservatism that's blooming amongst the young people, mix it with the policies and how they're seen their parents struggle through, or they themselves are struggling through, the economic policies of a Biden-Harris administration that's been in charge of things like the economy," said Aviles, "and they compare that to what was going on and how they were living under a Trump administration. I think we're going to see a continued shift."
Democratic State Representative Ana Maria Ramos of Dallas called the Hispanic community, "the backbone of the economy." According to Ramos, "Texas has the second largest Latino economy in the country."
Other issues Villalba, Aviles and Ramos discussed included immigration and education. Specifically school choice, and education savings accounts, providing taxpayer money so some students can go to private school.
Watch the full conversation with Dallas Latino leaders:
Texas State of Mind
CBS News Texas is traveling across the state, listening to voters about the election and the issues that matter most to them. For this installment, reporter Jason Allen takes us on the road to the High Plains in the Texas Panhandle.
Watch Texas State of Mind: