Talarico leads Paxton among younger Texas voters, new poll shows
Younger voters are propelling Democrat James Talarico into the lead in his U.S. Senate campaign against Republican Ken Paxton.
Younger voters choose Talarico
By the numbers:
In a YouGov poll, around two-thirds of voters ages 18–29 (69%) and ages 30–44 (62%) said they were voting for Talarico. Only 27% and 34%, respectively, said they were supporting Paxton. Voters between the ages of 45 and 64 were more split on the race, with 46% siding with Talarico and 48% for Paxton. More than half of voters age 65 and above (55%) said they were voting for Paxton, while 38% said they supported Talarico.
Overall, Talarico led the poll by six points over Paxton, 50% to 44%, with 2% saying they would vote for someone else, 3% undecided and 1% of those polled saying they would not vote.
Are voters locked in to their choices?
The poll also asked voters who made a choice if they would consider another candidate.
Among voters who said they were voting for Talarico, 3% said there was a chance they could change their minds and vote for Paxton.
Paxton voters were also mostly locked in on their candidate, with 4% saying they would consider voting for Talarico.
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Polls have shown the hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Texas is in a dead heat.
How do Texans view Democrats and Republicans, Trump?
Big picture view:
Voters were asked their overall feelings about the Democratic and Republican parties and both were viewed unfavorably.
Two-thirds of those polled had a neutral or worse view of the Democratic Party, with 11% holding a neutral opinion, 12% viewing the party as somewhat unfavorable and 44% saying they held a very unfavorable opinion of the party. Just 15% of those asked said they held a "very favorable" view of the Democratic Party.
On the Republican side, 43% said they viewed the party as "very unfavorable," while 10% said their views were "somewhat unfavorable" and 6% held a neutral view. More voters (22%) viewed the party as "very favorable" compared to Democrats.
Texans were split on their opinion of Donald Trump's handling of the presidency, with 44% approving of the job he's doing and 56% saying they disapprove.
The YouGov poll was conducted between Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 and polled 3,625 registered Texas voters and has a 3% margin of error.
The Source: Information in this article comes from a YouGov poll conducted between Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 and polled 3,625 registered Texas voters and has a 3% margin of error.