Ted Cruz’s lead over Donald Trump in Texas has narrowed to one percentage point, according to a poll from the American Research Group.
The Texas senator received the support of 33 percent of likely GOP voters surveyed, followed by Trump at 32 percent, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 17 percent, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Ben Carson in single digits.
Cruz’s edges Trump among Republicans, while Trump polls well with Democrats and independents.
“Cruz leads Trump 33 percent to 31 percent among self-reported Republicans (80 percent of likely voters), while Trump leads Cruz 37 percent to 31 percent among self-reported independents and Democrats,” said Dick Bennett of ARG in a statement. “In a switch, Cruz leads Trump 38 percent to 28 percent among men, while Trump leads Cruz 37 percent to 27 percent among women. Cruz leads Trump 44 percent to 26 percent among early voters (23 percent of likely voters), while Trump leads Cruz 34 percent to 29 percent among likely voters saying they will vote on Tuesday. Cruz also has an advantage among undecided voters with most favoring Cruz over Trump.”
ARG’s findings spell bad news for Rubio who could lose out on winning delegates in Texas because of the Lone Star State’s polling threshold.
But ARG’s findings are a substantial deviation from RealClearPolitics’ average of Texas polls, which shows Cruz at 36.2 percent, Trump at 26.6 percent and Rubio at 19.2 percent.
ARG surveyed 400 adults by telephone, including 321 self-identified Republicans, and 79 self-reported Democrats and independents, from Feb. 26 to 28. The poll has five percentage point margin of error.
