Ted Cruz leads Beto O'Rourke in new poll by nine points
https://www.texastribune.org/2018/10/11/cruz-orourke-poll-senate-texas/A new poll released Thursday morning showed Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has stabilized his lead over his Democrat challenger, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso.
Fifty-four percent of Texans backed Cruz, while 45 percent backed O'Rourke in the latest Quinnipiac University poll.
As for each candidate's images, 52 percent of Texans surveyed had a favorable view of Cruz, with 44 percent viewing him unfavorably. O'Rourke, however, was slightly under water in how Texans viewed him: 45 percent of respondents had a favorable view of O'Rourke, compared to 47 percent who view him unfavorably....
...The poll also took a snapshot of Texas' gubernatorial race, showing Republican Gov. Greg Abbott with a prohibitive lead over his Democratic rival, former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, 58 percent to 38 percent.
Strikingly, while Valdez and O'Rourke have consolidated support among African Americans, Abbott and Cruz garnered sizable Hispanic support. Cruz had the backing of 37 percent of Hispanic respondents while nearly half of Hispanics surveyed — 46 percent — supported Abbott....