For first time, poll shows Colin Allred beating Ted Cruz in November

For the first time in their hotly contested campaign, a poll shows U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, trailing challenger U.S. Rep. Colin Allred.

The Morning Consult poll, conducted between Sept. 9 and 18, places Allred — a moderate North Texas Democrat — a point ahead of Cruz with likely voters, 45% to 44%. Allred’s lead is within the poll’s margin of error, however.

Cruz is running for a third term in the Senate after narrowly defeating former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke in a closely watched 2018 race.

However, this time around, he’s been targeted by Democratic groups, who consider his seat one of the most flippable in the Senate. He’s also running with additional baggage, including taking a family trip to Cancun while hundreds of Texans died in Winter Storm Uri, one of state’s worst natural disasters.

While Cruz has racked up consistent leads in recent polls, a recent roundup of survey numbers by The Hill shows him having trouble crossing the 50% margin — generally viewed as troubling news for an incumbent weeks before an election.

“For the first time in this race, a new poll has us leading Ted Cruz by 1 point. I don’t know about y’all but I’m fired up and ready to WIN!” Allred tweeted in response to the new numbers. “We’ve got 47 days, let’s do this Texas.” News of the new poll comes as the two U.S. Senate candidates agreed to a televised debate next month — their first of the campaign.

The candidates’ will face-off at 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at the studio of Dallas’ WFAA-TV, according to details shared by the station. The program will air on broadcast and digital platforms statewide.

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This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2024.