Democratic candidates hold narrow leads in Texas and Michigan US Senate races, new poll shows

New polling shows that margins in Texas and Michigan’s key Senate races remain razor-thin, with Democrats just narrowly in the lead.

The new poll from Emerson College and The Hill puts James Talarico, the Democratic challenger in Texas, up by just one percent against Republican nominee Ken Paxton.

The prospect of flipping a Senate seat in deep-red Texas has long seemed a Democrat pipe dream. The last meaningfully competitive Senate race in the state was 6 years ago, when former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke came within three percentage points of ousting Republican senator Ted Cruz.

But it’s seemed closer to becoming a reality ever since Paxton, the scandal-plagued Texas attorney general, unseated incumbent John Cornyn in a primary race with President Trump’s backing.

In Michigan, the poll found that progressive firebrand Abdul El-Sayed is faring slightly better against Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, with El-Sayed winning 48 percent of respondents’ support compared to Rogers’ 46 percent. Rogers, the poll found, wins out with non-college educated voters and older Michiganders, while El-Sayed is ahead with independents.

The Texas poll found that Democrats haven’t won over as many voters in the state’s race for governor, with challenger Gina Hinojosa lagging sitting governor Greg Abbott by 3 percent.