Ted Cruz Has Trouble in Texas

After winning his home state in the Republican presidential primary, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) raised a few eyebrows when he almost immediately transitioned to running for re-election to the Senate after it was certain that Donald Trump had won the GOP nomination.

After all, Cruz won Texas with 44 percent of the vote in a four-way race in which Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) took much of the Hispanic/Latino vote. But only a few days after dropping out of the GOP presidential race, his campaign was immediately hitting up supporters for donations for his re-election bid—in 2018.

A new poll released by Dallas/Fort Worth CBS affiliate KTVT and Dixie Strategies may explain why. Here were Cruz’ “favorability” ratings, according to the poll:

• Very Favorable: 14.44 percent
• Somewhat Favorable: 20.33 percent
• Somewhat Unfavorable: 9.14 percent
• Very Unfavorable: 52.26 percent

The poll sought an answer for this response by asking if Cruz’ failure to endorse Trump gave them an unfavorable opinion of the senator. Roughly 53 percent of those who responded said it did.

Texas Republicans may not have wanted Trump during the primary, but now that the race is set, they are decidedly against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. And, they expect their elected representative to be on the same page.

More than two years out, it is way too early to project this current animosity onto the 2018 election. But, the poll went ahead and asked about it, anyway. So, if the current sentiment remains unchanged, here’s how voters would be inclined to mark their ballots:

• Joaquin Castro (D): 31.4 percent
• Ted Cruz (R): 31.6 percent
• Other: 14.2 percent
• Undecided: 22.8 percent

Even if Trump wins in November, it’s unlikely these numbers will remain static, but it certainly helps to explain Cruz’ sudden desire to be out campaigning for an election that’s still two years out. This week, he’s been traveling throughout Texas to meet with constituents—and probably to mend a few fences.