Another new poll was released ahead of the Democratic presidential debate on Thursday in Houston. The Texas Tribune/University of Texas poll of registered voters —who say they intend to cast a ballot in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary —pick, in this order, Joe Biden (26%), Elizabeth Warren (18%), and Beto O’Rourke (14%). O’Rourke has slipped since the previous TT/UT poll. Julian Castro remains at 3%.
The takeaway from the poll, says the survey’s pollsters, is “[t]he Elizabeth Warren boomlet is here. Taking second choices into account underlines that Warren’s early strength is evident in Texas, too. If you combine voters’ first and second choices, she’s actually the frontrunner in this poll.”
The top three issues in the presidential race most important to registered Democratic voters are, in order: defeating Trump, health care, and gun safety.
On Tuesday, a different poll showed bad news for President Trump and Sen. John Cornyn in Texas. Nationally, an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Wednesday shows five Democratic contenders– Biden, Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Pete Buttigieg– leading Trump in head-to-head matchups.