A tight race is shaping up in Texas between former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE and President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE, according to a new poll.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has a slim 1-point lead over Trump in Texas, based on a poll from the left-leaning firm Public Policy Polling released Wednesday. Biden’s lead is within the poll’s 3.1 percentage-point margin of error.
Biden has 47 percent support and Trump has 46 percent support, based on the poll.
ADVERTISEMENT
The same poll found that amid the coronavirus pandemic, just 46 percent of Texas voters said they approve of the job Trump is doing as president, and 49 percent said they disapprove.
The poll also found that 58 percent of Texas voters surveyed said they approve of Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) job performance and just 30 percent said they disapprove.
The Public Policy Polling survey shows a closer race between Biden and Trump in Texas compared to other recent polls. A University of Texas-Texas Tribune poll released last week found the president leading his Democratic challenger by 5 points.
A Democrat hasn’t won a presidential election in Texas since former President Carter in 1976, but the Lone Star State is one of several battleground states Democrats are hoping to flip in November.
The Democratic National Committee expanded its “Battleground Build-Up 2020” program in February to include Texas.
The Public Policy Polling survey was conducted between April 27 and 28. Pollsters surveyed 1,032 Texas voters.