President Trump is in a dead heat with four Democratic presidential candidates in the GOP stronghold of Texas. This is according to a new Emerson College poll.
The poll, which was released on Monday, shows Trump in close races in hypothetical general election matchups in Texas with former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Biden likely would have the best results against Trump. At this point he would garner the support of 50 percent of voters compared to Trump’s 49 percent, the poll shows. O’Rourke’s results are similar, with him and Trump each getting the support of 50 percent of voters in a hypothetical matchup.
The poll also shows Sanders losing by 2 percent and Warren trailing by 6 percent. Both of those differences are within the poll’s margin of error.
Texas has been a focus for the Democrats who are longing to make the state competitive. Winning the Lone Star State would greatly increase the chances of a Democrat winning the Electoral College. The problem is that no Democratic presidential candidate has won the state since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
O’Rourke’s competitive run against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2018 raised hopes for Democrats again. Now there are some who optimistically think 2020 could be the year.
Electability is an issue on Democratic minds, and Biden has argued that he is the candidate with the best chance to defeat Trump in the general election.
The other candidates included in the poll — Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) — each trail Trump by 8 points in the state. This is outside the margin of error.
The poll’s results are based on interviews with 799 voters from April 25 to April 28. The poll has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
Do you think the results of this poll will hold up?