Fox News Poll: GOP divisions shape Texas Senate race
President Donald Trump won the Lone Star state by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024, but a new Fox News Poll of Texas registered voters suggests this year's Senate race...
By Fox News · Fox News
President Donald Trump won the Lone Star state by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024, but a new Fox News Poll of Texas registered voters suggests this year's Senate race is far less settled. Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton has yet to fully unify the GOP, despite the president’s endorsement in the GOP primary against incumbent Senator John Cornyn. In addition, more voters are concerned Paxton lacks the character to serve than worry Democratic challenger James Talarico is too extreme, and more Democrats than Republicans are extremely motivated to vote (by 7 points) and extremely interested in the midterms (by 6). Those dynamics give Talarico a 3-point edge over Paxton (51% vs. 48%) in the Senate contest (within the survey’s margin of sampling error). Talarico's advantage in the horserace grows to 6 points among both extremely motivated and extremely interested voters (53% vs. 47% in each group). Most independents (68%) and virtually all Democrats support Talarico (98%), while fewer Republicans are unified behind Paxton (89%). In part, that’s because one quarter of non-MAGA Republicans back Talarico (24%). Paxton is the choice among White evangelical Christians, White men without a college degree, rural voters, regular worship attenders, men, and voters ages 65+. Some of Talarico’s best groups are Black voters, moderates, voters under age 30, Hispanic voters, women, and voters with a college degree. FOX NEWS POLL: DEMOCRATIC ENTHUSIASM SHAPES NORTH CAROLINA SENATE RACE "Although Paxton dominated Cornyn in the GOP primary, that bruising contest left scars," says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts Fox News polls with Democrat Chris Anderson. "He has considerable work to do with non-MAGA Republicans and independents, and that undoubtedly requires aggressively tying Talarico to the Democratic Party’s far left." By a 12-point margin, more voters are concerned Paxton lacks the character to serve as a senator than believe Talarico is too extreme (59% vs. 47…