Texas Senate poll puts Talarico ahead of Paxton

A poll of likely voters in Texas put Democrat James Talarico ahead of Republican Ken Paxton, 49% to 43%, in the contest for a U.S. Senate seat, as the November 3 election approaches. The SSRS survey, conducted October 20-27 among 923 likely voters, had a 4.2-percentage-point margin of error, making the result a snapshot rather than a prediction or election outcome. The poll comes amid broader uncertainty about the Senate races that will determine control of the chamber. Republicans currently hold 53 of the 100 Senate seats, while Democrats hold 47. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control, and the Texas survey is one of four recent SSRS polls showing Democratic candidates ahead. The other races named in that polling are Michigan, Maine and Kansas, though the leads in Maine and Kansas fall within the polls’ margins of error. A recorded remark attributed to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz also described Texas as close and warned that Republicans could lose the Senate contest and every statewide race. The clip was released by FactPost, an account associated with the Democratic Party; the supplied reporting does not independently establish the recording’s context or the...