| Republicans
A new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll shows a GOP field consolidating into a two-man race.
In the poll, released Monday, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst leads with 38 percent, up from 22 percent in October. Cruz has also risen, clocking in at 27 percent, up from 10 percent. ESPN analyst Craig James and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert both pull 7 percent.
There is still plenty of time left (heck, we don't even know the primary date yet), but one imagines that Cruz is exactly where he wants to be. He can legitimately claim to be a "surging" candidate who is in a position to be the dark-red alternative to Dewhurst (if indeed there could be).
Meanwhile, the Austin American-Statesman has a piece explaining how deeply Cruz's success is due to support from Washington. From support from the most stridently conservative senators and think tanks, to praise from conservative columnist George Will, Cruz has the national Tea Party movement galvanizing behind him. Cruz is looking outside of Texas for fundraising as well, he says, because of Dewhurst's institutional support in Texas.
Another article in the Statesman's developing Senate series explains Tea Party resistance to Dewhurst, who many view as more of an opportunist than a strong conservative.
A third article delves into Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert's questionable record in the private sector as a leader of Washington Mutual when it became the largest bank failure in history.
Democrats
The same poll shows Democrats in a statistical tie: Sean Hubbard, 12 percent; Addie Dainell Allen, Daniel Boone and Paul Sadler, each at 10 percent; and John Morton trailing the pack with 3 percent.
Voters are still in the process of getting to know the Democrats, and we can expect those numbers to shift in the next two months. |
