James Talarico leads both Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton in a general election, according to an Impact Research poll shared by Politico.
Talarico leads Cornyn, first elected in 2002, 43% to 41% and leads Paxton 44% to 43%. Cornyn and Paxton will face off in a runoff on Tuesday, May 26 while Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democrat primary.
Both Cornyn and Paxton are deeply unpopular among Texas voters, the poll found. Paxton is viewed unfavorably by an 18-point margin, 37% favorable to 55% unfavorable, while Cornyn is even more disliked, with voters rating him negatively by a 33-point margin, 27% favorable to 60% unfavorable.
Paxton and Cornyn are even more unpopular among independent voters, with Paxton 32 points underwater and Cornyn 42 points underwater.
Likely Republican primary voters strongly favor Paxton over Cornyn, the poll found with Paxton leading Cornyn 53% to 37%.
Republican voters view Paxton favorably by a 33-point margin, 64% to 31%. Cornyn is underwater by two points, 45% favorable to 47% unfavorable.
While they view Paxton favorably by a 33-point margin (64% favorable / 31% unfavorable), Cornyn is underwater with them by 2 points (45% favorable / 47% unfavorable).
In a statement, Talarico said the poll’s results show it doesn’t matter who wins the run-off.
"We already know who we’re running against: the billionaire megadonors and their corrupt political systems," Talarico told Politico.
"Neither John Cornyn nor Ken Paxton deserve the honor of representing this great state in our nation’s capital, so we’re building a movement to take power back for working people and end 30 years of one party rule this November," Talarico added.
The poll of 900 likely voters was conducted by Impact Research from March 12-17 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3%
Sam Barron ✉
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