WSJ poll: Donald Trump has nine point lead in Texas
Donald Trump has reestablished a solid lead in Texas, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday.
The poll of likely voters has Trump up 49 percent to 40 percent over Hillary Clinton, with Gary Johnson getting 6 percent.
The WSJ poll indicates Trump’s lead in Texas has grown since a series of mid-October polls showed the race within three points.
But a single-digit Trump win would still be the smallest by a Republican in years. President Obama lost the state by 12 points in 2008 and 16 points in 2012. Texas has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
“We’re seeing the effect of the demographic shift,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.
The poll found Trump earning 24 percent of Hispanic voters in Texas, higher than the typical number in other states. Trump has a 48 point lead over Clinton with white voters in the state. But independent voters in Texas favor Clinton, according to the poll.
Two other Wall Street Journal polls released Thursday show Trump up 45-40 over Clinton in Arizona, but in a dead heat in Georgia – Trump 45 percent, Clinton 44 percent.
The NBC/WSJ/Marist polls were conducted Oct. 30-Nov. 1. The margin of error of the Texas poll is +/- 3.8 percent.