New poll shows tightening race for GOP in Texas Senate, governor races

The day before President Donald Trump stopped in Texas to rally support for the Republican ticket, a new poll showed the party was facing headwinds in the state's top-of-the-ticket races.

A YouGov poll released Oct. 6 surveyed 3,625 likely voters in Texas and found that James Talarico leads Ken Paxton 50%-44% — outside the poll's margin of error of 3 percentage points. — in the Texas Senate race.

In the governor's race, the poll was conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 5 and found that Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa slightly leads Gov. Greg Abbott, 48% to 47%, within the poll's margin of error.

Both Democrats are carrying the women and Hispanic vote, as well as voters ages 18 to 44. Meanwhile, Republicans retained solid leads among non-college-educated and white voters and narrower leads among men.

With early voting in the state starting Oct. 19, here's a look at recent polling from September and early October.

Recent Texas U.S. Senate race polls

Here's what September and October polls showed:

The New York Times (Oct. 3) — Talarico 51%, Paxton 45%.Fox News (Oct. 1) — Talarico 51%, Paxton 49%.Big Data Poll (Sept. 27) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 45%.Marist Poll (Sept. 23) — Talarico 50%, Paxton 44%.Texas Southern University (Sept. 22) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 46%.ReconMR Texas Poll (Sept. 17) — Talarico 49%, Paxton 43%.Emerson College (Sept. 17) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 46%.

Recent Texas governor's race polls

The New York Times (Oct. 3) — Hinojosa 49%, Abbott 46%.Fox News (Oct. 1) — Abbott 52%, Hinojosa 47%.Big Data Poll (Sept. 27) — Abbott 49%, Hinojosa 44%.Marist Poll (Sept. 23) — Hinojosa 49%, Abbott 46%.Texas Southern University (Sept. 22) — Abbott 49%, Hinojosa 45%.Emerson College Polling (Sept. 17) — Abbott 49%, Hinojosa 46%.