Air Force veteran MJ Hegar, the Democrats’ nominee in Texas’ Senate race this fall.
The first poll out of Texas since Air Force veteran MJ Hegar won last week’s Democratic runoff finds Republican Sen. John Cornyn leading their matchup 47-38, but it nonetheless contains plenty of good news for Democrats, who are hoping to win their first Senate race in the Lone Star state since 1988.
For starters, Quinnipiac’s survey has Joe Biden edging out Donald Trump 45-44, a slight uptick from last month’s poll when Trump led 44-43. That suggests that undecided voters in the Senate race, contrary to what you’d usually find in a red state like Texas, lean toward Democrats, a conclusion buttressed by the crosstabs: While self-identified Republicans support Trump 89-6 and Cornyn 88-5—almost identical shares—Democrats back Biden 94-3 but Hegar just 82-6. If she can consolidate Democratic voters who support Biden behind her banner as well, she can start to close that gap.