Texas Democrats Are Closing The Gap In Statewide Races

The charts above of from The Texas Tribune. They reflect the results of the latest University of Texas / Texas Tribune Poll -- done between June 8th and 17th of a sample of 1,200 registered voters in Texas, and has a margin of error of 2.83 points.

I'm encouraged by these numbers, and I think other Texas Democrats should also be encouraged. It's been a long time since statewide Democratic candidates have been this close to their Republican opponents. Beto O'Rourke trails by only 5 points in the U.S. Senate race, Lupe Valdez trails by 12 points in the governor's race, Mike Collier trails by 6 points in the lt. governor's race, and Justin Nelson trails by only 1 point in the race for attorney general. Those are margins that can be dealt with since there are still over 4 months until the election.

Add to this the fact that the voters already know about the GOP candidates, but significant portions of them have yet to learn about the Democratic candidates -- which means there is more chance for Democrats to gain support as the election season progresses than for Republican candidates.

Perhaps the most surprising statistic is that the voters have as good an opinion of the Democratic Party (37% favorable to 49% unfavorable) as they do the Republican Party (35% favorable to 48% unfavorable).

I'm not ready to claim a blue wave will sweep most (or all) of statewide Democrats into office this November, but for the first time in many years it is a possibility -- a real possibility.