Trump leads Harris by 5 points in Texas, new poll finds
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A poll released Friday revealed Vice President Kamala Harris draws more support than President Joe Biden did in Texas, but former President Donald Trump still holds a single-digit lead with voters in the state.
The Texas Politics Project and the University of Texas found Trump leading Harris by five percentage points (49% to 45%) in a poll conducted of 1,200 registered voters between Aug. 23 and Aug. 31. Pollsters estimated the margin of error at 2.83 percent.
These numbers held when pollsters looked at a head-to-head matchup of the two candidates and when they factored in third-party candidates, like the Green Party's Jill Stein and Libertarian Chase Oliver. Th poll provides another snapshot of how Texans feel about the presidential contest since Biden ended his reelection bid in July.
These two entities last put out a poll in June when Biden still remained in the race for the White House. At that time, he trailed Trump by seven percentage points, so the August poll shows Harris performing better among registered Texas voters — a trend reflected in the polling of other states recently.
The University of Houston and Texas Southern University also put out their own poll last month showing very similar numbers, as Trump led Harris by five percentage points in that survey, too.
The most recent poll from the Texas Politics Project and the University of Texas showed enthusiasm surging among Democratic voters in the state. That number registered at 79% — with Democrats saying they're either “extremely” (52%) or very enthusiastic (27%) about voting in the 2024 election. That was an increase since June when 61% of respondents said at that time they were enthusiastic (39% extremely enthusiastic, 22% very enthusiastic).
Meanwhile, the poll found Republican enthusiasm going down slightly from June to August. According to the poll, GOP voters shared in June they're either extremely (55%) or very enthusiastic (22%) compared to 49% of those who are extremely enthusiastic and 25% who are very enthusiastic in the latest survey.
Texas Senate race
In addition to the presidential contest, pollsters asked Texas voters about where their support lies in the consequential race for the state's U.S. Senate seat. Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican incumbent, is ahead of his Democratic challenger Colin Allred by eight percentage points (44% to 36%), according to the poll. Support for Libertarian Ted Brown came in at two percent, while 14 percent remain undecided and four percent said they'd choose an unspecified "someone else."
Looking back at the June survey, Cruz's lead dropped slightly. The numbers at that time showed him ahead of Allred by 11 percentage points (45% to 34%).
Most important problems facing U.S. & Texas
This group of voters also shared with pollsters what they'd say is the most important problem facing the U.S. today. Inflation and rising prices (22%) and the economy (18%) topped that list followed by immigration (8%), political corruption/leadership (7%) and border security (6%).
Both Harris and Trump delivered speeches this week highlighting some of their plans for the economy, underscoring how much their campaigns believe this issue remains a top concern for potential voters.
Pollsters sought out how these voters also felt about what are the most pressing issues for Texas specifically. They ranked the biggest problems for the state as immigration (16%) and border security (15%) along with inflation and rising prices (12%), political corruption and leadership (9%) and the economy (6%).