Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz leads Democratic rival U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke by 5 percentage points among likely voters, according to a new Ipsos online poll released Wednesday.
A September Ipsos poll showed O’Rourke beating Cruz by 2 percentage points among likely voters. Both surveys were conducted in conjunction with Reuters and the University of Virginia.
In the latest, 49 percent of respondents said they would vote for Cruz, while 44 percent said they would vote for O’Rourke. Ipsos polled 2,000 Texans over the age of 18.
O’Rourke, an El Paso congressman, has run a surprisingly close race in a state where a Democrat hasn’t won statewide office in 24 years. However, recent polls still show him trailing by single digits.
Earlier this month, a Quinnipiac University phone poll showed Cruz up by 9 points, and FiveThirtyEight.com’s weighted average of polls gives the incumbent a 5.7 point advantage.
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This article appears in Oct 24-30, 2018.
