Attorney General Ken Paxton is holding onto the lead in the U.S. Senate primary runoff battle in Texas.
Texas Public Opinion Research (TPOR) released a poll Friday, April 17, showing Paxton with an eight-point lead over incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn with just over a month to go before the May 26 runoff election. The poll surveyed 1,225 likely Republican primary voters between April 6 and April 7.
The latest poll builds on Paxton’s advantage in five other polls taken since the March 3 primary.
The poll found 48% of respondents backing Paxton compared to 40% for Cornyn, with 11% still undecided. Even with an endorsement from President Donald Trump, which has eluded both candidates thus far, Cornyn lags Paxton by three percentage points.
Further, former supporters of U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, who was knocked out of the race during the March primary, appear to be shifting their support to Paxton — 45% say they support the attorney general, compared with 32% for the incumbent.
John Cornyn vs Ken Paxton poll takeaways
The following are a few additional takeaways from the poll:
The poll also held good news for Talarico, who is poised to face the winner of the runoff in the November General Election — 24% of Cornyn supporters said they would cast a ballot for the Democrat rather than Paxton if Cornyn fails to advance to the General Election.
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Ken Paxton leads John Cornyn in new Texas US Senate runoff poll
Reporting by Adam Powell, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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