TX-Sen: The University of Texas is out with a poll for the Texas Tribune of the early March Democratic primary to take on GOP Sen. John Cornyn, and they find undecided ruling the day with 57%. Among the actual candidates, Air Force veteran and 2018 House nominee MJ Hegar leads with 12% while Sema Hernandez, who lost the 2018 primary to Beto O’Rourke 64-24, takes second with 6%.
State Sen. Royce West is at 5%, Houston City Councilor Amanda Edwards and nonprofit head Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez are at 4% each, and former Rep. Chris Bell grabs 3%; none of the other candidates named in the poll break 2%. There would be a primary runoff in late May if no one takes a majority of the vote in the first round.
So far, Hegar is the strongest fundraiser in the Democratic field. Hegar outraised Edwards $1 million to $555,000 during the third quarter, and she ended September with an $894,000 to $338,000 cash-on-hand lead. Tzintzún Ramirez raised $459,000 during this time and had $225,000 in the bank while West took in $334,000, self-funded another $206,000, and had $377,000 to spend. Bell only raised $196,000 and had $112,000 on-hand, though that’s better than the $4,000 Hernandez had to spend.
Whoever wins the Democratic nod will be in for a very difficult race against Cornyn an expensive state that still favors Republicans. Cornyn will also be very well funded: The incumbent hauled in $3.1 million during the last fundraising quarter and had $10.8 million to spend at the end of September.
P.S.: While O’Rourke ended his presidential bid on Friday, his team quickly confirmed that he wouldn’t enter the Senate race.