Trump narrowly leading Harris in Texas: Poll

Former President Trump holds a slight lead over Vice President Harris in Texas, according to a poll published Thursday.

The survey from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University, found Trump with support from 49.5 percent of likely voters in Texas, holding a lead of less than 5 points over Harris’s 44.6 percent.

Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had 2 percent of likely voters, while the Green Party’s Jill Stein had 0.7 percent and Libertarian Chase Oliver had 0.5 percent, according to the poll. About 2.7 percent were undecided.

The latest findings for the Lone Star State showed a slight increase — 0.6 percentage points — in support for Trump, who received 48.9 percent in June.

But Harris’s support also jumped 4.3 percentage points from where President Biden was polling in June, when he was the Democratic presidential candidate in June; the incumbent had 40.3 percent support at the time, pollsters found.

Kennedy’s vote was 2.7 percentage points lower than in June.

“Harris has made considerable headway among voters both in Texas and nationally in the short time since she entered the race last month,” said Renée Cross, researcher and senior executive director at the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston.

Cross noted this is particularly evident among youth voters, with 55 percent of Generation Z voters stating they will support Harris, compared to the 39 percent who backed Biden.

This is the latest survey showing Harris narrowing the gap with Trump in the wake of boosted enthusiasm from the Democratic Party since Biden dropped out.

While Harris poses a substantial threat to the healthy lead Trump once held over Biden in national polling, some political strategists have suggested it is too early to make conclusions about the November election and that Harris’s momentum could decrease.

Democrats have long dreamed of flipping Texas, which has the second most Electoral College votes in the nation, after California. But the Lone Star State hasn’t gone blue in a presidential election since 1976.

Cross noted Texas is still a red state, and Trump maintained a “strong lead” among men, white and older voters.

The majority of the likely voters who picked Harris or Trump said they were certain about their vote choice, with only 4 percent and 8 percent of their respective supporters stating they could change their mind.

The survey was conducted by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University from Aug. 5-16 in English and Spanish. Its margin of error is plus or minus 2.65 percentage points.