|
Thu Apr 26, 2012 at 09:00 AM CDT
|
| Public Policy Polling came out with a new poll yesterday that suggests the Republican primary may be far from over. Dewhurst is at 38% to 26% for Ted Cruz, 8% for Tom Leppert, and 7% for Craig James. If no candidate receives more than 50%, the top two candidates will go into a runoff.
Two PPP polls ago, Cruz was at 12%. And here's another bit of good news for the "Cruz Crew": among voters familiar with Cruz, he leads Dewhurst 39-34. PPP concludes, "Dewhurst's superior name recognition is the main reason he continues to hold a lead of any size over Cruz." Cruz's favorability has increased from 15/14 to 31/17. Dewhurst's favorability is 47/22, Leppert's is 20/15, and James is least liked among GOP voters at 14/21.
This is not entirely surprising. Cruz is the anti-incumbent despite the fact that he and Dewhurst would be identically awful senators. Republicans have been feeling anti-incumbent since late 2008. It's what created the Tea Party wave in 2010 and continues to be a factor in the 2012 election; even Tea Party freshmen are facing Tea Party challengers.
If Cruz can force a runoff, Dewhurst has good reason to be very afraid. High attention on a runoff would only increase Cruz's chances at victory. And here's another thought: if Dewhurst falls, who can claim that Texas Republicans want more Perry? |
|
|
|
|
|
