James Talarico Beating Both Ken Paxton And John Cornyn In Texas Senate Election, Poll Shows

Texas State Rep. James Talarico is currently beating both Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn in hypothetical matchups in the U.S. Senate race, according to a new poll.

Conducted by Public Policy Polling, it showed the Democratic candidate beating Paxton by 2 percentage points (47%-45%) and Cornyn by 1 (44%-43%), although there is a larger amount of people who are not sure who they would support in the latter race.

The survey was conducted between March 4 and 5 and were 30% Democrat, 41% Republican and 30% independent, Yahoo News noted.

Talarico has taken aim at both candidates, saying last week that they are "extraordinarily weak." Speaking to Politico after beating Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary, Talarico voiced confidence about his chances of winning the general race.

"Paxton and Cornyn, they're different. Paxton was guilty of illegal corruption. That's why my colleagues and I impeached him in the Texas House. But Cornyn is guilty of legalized corruption. He was the deciding vote on the Big, Ugly, Bill which kicked millions of Texas off their health care, took food out of the mouths of hungry Texas kids all to give tax breaks to his donors," he claimed.

Paxton seems to currently have the upper hand ahead of the Republican runoff. A new survey conducted by Texas Public Opinion Research (TPOR), shows Paxton gathering 49% of the support, compared to Cornyn's 41%. The remaining respondents remain undecided.

The poll was conducted among 781 likely Republican primary voters between March 7 and 8, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.

The survey comes as President Donald Trump is yet to make his endorsement in the race. Different reports suggest he is set to back Cornyn, with Republican officials saying he will be a stronger candidate in the general election than Paxton, who has gone through different controversies in his political career.

Trump said last week he will make his endorsement "pretty soon" and has urged the candidate who he doesn't back to drop out of the race.

Paxton, however, has anticipated he will remain in the race even despite Trump's wishes, saying "I owe it to the people of Texas."

Trump reacted to the remarks, issuing a warning to Paxton. That is bad for him. So maybe, maybe that leads me to go the other direction," he said.

The TPOR poll analyzed how the scenario would change depending on Trump's endorsement. Should he effectively back Cornyn, it wouldn't be enough to get him across the finish line: Paxton would still lead 44% to 43%. In contrast, should the state attorney general get the endorsement, his support would jump to 58%, compared to Cornyn's 32%.

Originally published on Latin Times