WASHINGTON _ Texas Sen. Ted Cruz leads Democrat Beto O'Rourke 49 to 43 percent in a new poll conducted for one of O'Rourke's Democratic allies.
The new poll was conducted by the Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, on behalf of a group that advocates for campaign finance reform, End Citizens United.
End Citizens United supports O'Rourke, who has pledged not to take campaign funds from political action committees. The group has paid for several surveys of the race, while O'Rourke's campaign doesn't plan to hire a pollster.
The most recent independent poll of the Texas Senate race, from Quinnipiac University in May, found the Republican Cruz leading O'Rourke 50 percent to 39 percent. In that survey, 50 percent of respondents didn't know enough about O'Rourke to form an opinion of him. Eighty-seven percent of respondents had a solid opinion of Cruz.
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner surveyed 1,000 likely voters between May 29 and June 5. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent. It included supplemental oversamples of likely voters in the Austin and San Antonio media markets to gain addition data on voters in those areas. The oversamples were not included in the statewide results.
Eight percent of those surveyed were undecided on the race. O'Rourke, a congressman from El Paso, had a 57 percent name recognition _ higher than it has been in other recent polls.
