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Clinton Gains 3 Points on Trump in Texas

But GOP nominee still leads 45 percent to 38 percent

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton made gains in Texas, despite her unlikely chances of winning the state in the general election. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton made gains in Texas, despite her unlikely chances of winning the state in the general election. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

A new poll shows Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton gained 3 points in Texas, a state that nearly always votes for the Republican nominee. 

If the election were held today, nearly 45 percent of respondents said they would vote for the GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, and about 38 percent said they would vote for Clinton, according to the KTVT-CBS11/Dixie Strategies poll.

A similar poll in August had Clinton at 35 percent to Trump’s 46 percent, Dallas-Forth Worth outlet CBS11 reported.

“He really should be doing a lot better,” pollster Brian Graham of Dixie Strategies said. “There’s no reason why, at this late stage in the game, that he should be under 50 percent in the state of Texas.”

The poll showed that since August, both candidates’ favorability marks have improved. Trump’s favorable rating grew by 11 points. Around 48 percent view him as somewhat or very favorable, compared to 36 percent for Clinton. In August, only 37 percent viewed Trump favorably and 31 percent felt the same way about Clinton.

A RealClearPolitics average of recent polls in the Lone Star State shows Trump up by more than 6 points. No Democratic presidential nominee has won Texas since Jimmy Carter did so 40 years ago. Every Democrat since then has lost the state by double-digits except for Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton, who lost Texas by 3 and 5 points in 1992 and 1996 respectively.

The latest KTVT-CBS11/Dixie Strategies poll surveyed 780 likely voters by phone from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1. The margin of error was 3.1 percentage points.  

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