Colin Allred leads Democratic primary, trails Cruz in possible head-to-head, poll shows

Democrats hoping to challenge Ted Cruz meet in debate

Voters will soon decide who will face Ted Cruz as the Democratic nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas. The leading candidates debated each other in Austin.

A new University of Houston poll is taking a closer look at the race for U.S. Senate in Texas.

The Hobby School of Public Affairs poll shows U.S. Congressman Colin Allred with a sizable lead over other challengers in the Democratic Primary, but trailing Senator Ted Cruz in a November matchup.

Texas U.S. Senate Democratic Primary Poll

In the March 5 primary, Allred holds a commanding lead, according to the poll.

Among likely voters in the 2024 Texas Democratic Party U.S. Senate election who were polled, Allred earned 40 percent of the vote, far above Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez who finished with 12 percent.

Other challengers included Meri Gonzalez (4%), Mark Gonzalez (2%), Carl Sherman (1%), A. "Robert" Hassan (1%), Steven Keough (1%), Heli Rodriguez Prilliman (1%) and Thierry Tchenko (0%).

The poll showed that 38 percent of likely voters are still undecided, meaning these numbers could change ahead of election day.

In a potential run-off election between just Allred and Gutierrez, 46 percent chose Allred compared to just 26 percent for Gutierrez, according to the poll. 28 percent of likely said they would be unsure.

2024 Texas U.S. Senate Election Poll

Texas is leaning toward re-electing Senator Ted Cruz in November, according to the poll.

In a potential head-to-head in November, Cruz leads Allred 48 percent to 39 percent.

Cruz extends his lead by a point if the more progressive Gutierrez is the Democratic candidate, according to the poll.

The poll also looked at the opinions of the voters on the individual candidates.

Cruz is very polarizing, with 48 percent of Texans holding a favorable opinion of him and 49 percent with an unfavorable opinion, according to the poll.

Allred had a 30 percent favorable opinion compared to just 19 percent who thought unfavorably of him, according to the poll. 51 percent said they didn't know enough about him to have an opinion.

Opinions on Gutierrez were 23 percent favorable and 14 percent unfavorable, with 63 percent not knowing how they felt, according to the poll.