Poll: Biden leads Trump in Texas

Former Vice President Joe Biden has a modest lead over President Trump in red Texas, while the rest of the Democratic field runs close to the president, according to a new survey. 

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday finds Biden leading Trump by 4 points in Texas, 48 percent to 44 percent.

The rest of the Democratic field isn’t far behind.{mosads}

Trump edges Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) 46 percent to 45 percent. In a head-to-head match-up against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Trump leads 47 percent to 44 percent. Trump leads former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Texas) 48 percent to 45 percent and he holds a 47 percent-to-43 percent advantage over Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.). 

The Democrats are boosted in the poll by independent voters and a yawning gender gap. 

In the Trump-Biden matchup, Trump leads among men by 8 points, while Biden leads by 15 points among women.

Trump leads Biden 60 percent to 33 percent among white voters, but Biden takes 86 percent of black voters and 59 percent of Hispanic voters.

Trump and Biden each pull at least 90 percent support from within their own parties, but independent voters back Biden by a margin of 55 percent to 33 percent.

Biden is also dominating the Democratic primary in Texas, which is one of a dozen states to vote on Super Tuesday on March 3. Biden takes 30 percent support among Democrats in the poll, followed by O’Rourke at 16 percent, Sanders at 15 percent and Warren at 11 percent.

“The numbers are good for Vice President Joseph Biden who dominates the field in a Democratic primary and has the best showing in a head-to-head match-up against President Donald Trump,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

“In historically red-leaning Texas, the report for the rest of the Democratic field is not so bad either, which could spell trouble for President Trump. It is the largest state in the country with a Republican edge. The president, who is on the wrong side of a too-close-to-call matchup with Biden, barely inches up in similar matchups with all the other Democrats.” 

Trump’s job approval in Texas is at 48 percent positive and 49 percent negative, with 55 percent of men approving of the job he’s doing and 55 percent of women disapproving.

Fifty-six percent of voters say they’re better off financially today than they were in 2016.

Trump won Texas by 9 points over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the past election, but Democrats have long dreamed of turning the Lone Star State blue and gaining control of its 38 Electoral College votes.

In 2018, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) eked out a hard-fought victory over O’Rourke with 51 percent of the vote. 

A strong majority of Democrats in the survey, 60 percent, said they’d like to see O’Rourke abandon his presidential hopes and run again for Senate against Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is up for reelection.

The Quinnipiac University poll of 1,159 Texas voters was conducted between May 29 and June 4 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.