Texas Gov. Greg Abbott widens lead over Beto O’Rourke as voters focus on economy: poll
A new poll of Texas voters finds the Lone Star State’s top two Democratic presidential contenders — former El Paso congressman Beto O’Rourke and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — are running neck-and-neck in a hypothetical matchup, with 20 percent of all voters undecided.
And while a survey of Texas voters conducted by the Austin-based firm Public Policy Polling shows O’Rourke’s lead in the Lone Star State narrowed to a single point over Cruz, the poll finds he would be the front-runner among Texas voters, just as O’Rourke was heading into the third and final debate earlier this month.
“The voters want a leader who will make government work better, who will focus on the issues that most matter to them and who will deliver results — like the voters of Texas want to do with a leader,” said David Hopkins, a Public Policy Polling founder and CEO. “That’s what we’ve heard time and again from voters in all three of the debates.”
But while polls this early in the year suggest the GOP race in Texas has effectively been decided in one man’s favor, O’Rourke still has a long way to go.
At stake is the chance to take on Cruz, who entered the race with the most conventional campaign, which has all along focused on the economy, the border and his support for expanding Medicaid on the federal level, among other issues.
O’Rourke, 48, has been a passionate champion for immigration reform and other issues that have come up at the most recent presidential debates, notably focusing on the impact of a Trump administration immigration policy that has separated tens of thousands of children from their families to force them to undergo so-called “torture” and detention.
After winning his Senate race in November, O’Rourke has been one of the more visible members of the Democratic field, delivering a “pitch to the working class