NYT poll shakes up Texas Senate, governor's races before early voting - USA Today
Two weeks before early voting starts, a new October poll from The New York Times showed Republicans could face a tougher battle in two high-profile races.
The Oct. 3 NYT/ Siena College poll showed Republican Ken Paxton trailing Democrat James Talarico by 6 points, 45% to 51%, in the Texas Senate race β up from a tie in a June poll.
In the governor's race, Democrat Gina Hinojosa is leading Gov. Greg Abbott, 49% to 46%, within the poll's margin of error β a flip from where the June poll had her trailing.
Here's what the poll found and where the races stand as early voting starts Oct. 19.
The poll was conducted among 615 likely voters in Texas from Sept. 21 to Sept. 30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
It showed that Talarico is leading Paxton among women, 56%-40%; voters aged 18-29, 66%-22%; and Hispanics, 62%-30 %.
While Talarico is leading Paxton by the poll's margin, 4% are still unsure who they will vote for or have said they will not vote.
On who has "good character," Talarico leads Paxton 55% to 32%.
While recent polling has shown Hinojosa trailing Abbott over the past few months, the Times/Siena poll is now one of several showing her leading the Republican incumbent β but still within the poll's margin of error.
Hinojosa, like Talarico, leads her opponent among women (59%-39%), Hispanics (64%-28%), and younger voters aged 18-29 (61%-27%).
One hot-button issue over the past few months has been data centers, with this new poll finding that 57% of voters strongly or somewhat oppose their construction.
Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas, based in Austin. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@usatodayco.com.
