Originally Posted: September 20, 2018
Matthew Wilson, an SMU associate political science professor was quoted in this article.
Is Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz ahead? Or is Democrat U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke ahead?
Two polls issued in two days paint two different pictures in the Texas-size battle for the U.S. Senate.
A poll released Wednesday put O’Rourke up by 2 percentage points in the race. A poll released Tuesday put Cruz up by 9 percentage points.
“These are snapshots of the race, they show a range,” said Matthew Wilson, an associate political science professor at SMU. “It’s not a pronouncement from on high about the state of the race.
“Right now, it is unlikely that O’Rourke is really ahead by 2 points. It’s also unlikely that Cruz is ahead by 9 points,” he said. “The truth is somewhere in between these two polls.”
Wednesday’s poll, which showed O’Rourke ahead 47 percent to 45 percent, was an online survey by Ipsos, released with Reuters and the University of Virginia. Tuesday’s poll, which showed Cruz up 54 percent to 45 percent, was conducted on landlines and cellphones by Quinnipiac University.
The race for this U.S. Senate seat in Texas, represented by Republicans since 1993, has become one of the most watched battles across the country, especially as polls have shown the race tightening.
Republicans had been confident in Cruz’s ability to win re-election, until O’Rourke — who traveled around the state visiting voters in all 254 counties — began exceeding fundraising expectations.
The question is which voters will turn out on Election Day, political observers say. READ MORE