Campaign

Cornyn trails Paxton in new Texas Senate poll

Comments:

by Tara Suter - 05/05/26 10:39 AM ET

Comments:

Link copied

by Tara Suter - 05/05/26 10:39 AM ET

Comments:

Link copied

NOW PLAYING

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is trailing his state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, ahead of their upcoming primary runoff for Cornyn’s seat.

In the poll from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston, 48 percent of likely voters backed Paxton, while 45 percent backed Cornyn and 7 percent were unsure about their vote.

The two Republican candidates have courted President Trump’s endorsement in the race, and days after they advanced to a runoff, the president teased that he’d support one candidate and request that the other leave the race. However, the formal dropout date passed in March and no backing came.

The two candidates are set to appear on a ballot at the end of the month, a possible benefit for Paxton, who fell behind Cornyn in the original primary election.

In the University of Houston poll, 49 percent of men surveyed backed Paxton, while 46 percent backed Cornyn and 5 percent were unsure. When it came to women, 47 percent backed Paxton and 45 percent backed Cornyn, with 8 percent undecided.

The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, James Talarico, led both Cornyn and Paxton in hypothetical head-to-head matchups for the general election in a recent poll. Likely general election voters in Texas said they would support Talarico over Cornyn, 44 percent to 41 percent, in the previous Texas Public Opinion Research survey, with Talarico also beating Paxton 46 percent to 41 percent.

The University of Houston poll took place from April 28 and May 1, featuring 1,200 respondents and plus or minus 2.83 percentage points as its margin of error.

Add as preferred source on Google