Yikes! Poll Shows Rick Perry Could Unseat Ted Cruz In 2018

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2014 file photo, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaks at the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Washington. Top Texas Republicans are holding their election night party on Nov. 4 with a concert by country ... FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2014 file photo, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaks at the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Washington. Top Texas Republicans are holding their election night party on Nov. 4 with a concert by country star Pat Green at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas, best-known for hosting a weekly music show. Gov. Rick Perry isn’t seeking re-election but is considering a second run for the White House and is expected to attend. Also planning to be there, according to spokeswoman Catherine Frazier, is tea party-backed Sen. Ted Cruz, who appears likely to test the presidential waters. Same goes for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a possible 2016er some Republicans hope will enter the race to stand up to conservative firebrands like Cruz. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) MORE LESS
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) may be vulnerable to a primary challenger in 2018 and the only man who can beat him –according to a recent poll– is former Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

The survey of Republican primary voters by the Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling shows that in a head-to-head matchup, Cruz would lose to Perry 46 percent to 37 percent.

The poll comes roughly a month after Cruz took a gamble at the 2016 Republican convention and refused to endorse presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The poll looked at Cruz’s other potential primary challengers, but found no one else was able to beat the freshman senator. In a race against Rep. Michael McCaul, Cruz led by 32 points, and in a contest against Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, he had a 22-point lead.

As the Texas Tribune pointed out in its analysis of the poll, Cruz’s popularity back home has taken a hit after his RNC speech. The poll found that among likely voters, 48 percent did not approve of the job he was doing while 37 percent said they did approve.

PPP surveyed 944 likely voters from Aug. 12 -14. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

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Notable Replies

  1. Proof positive that polls this far in advance are totally useless. And I mean totally.

  2. Dumb vs. dumber.
    Both equally sleazy.
    You bought them, Texas…
    Enjoy…

  3. hey, There is a use for Rick Perry !

  4. Yikes for who? Sounds to me like a win-win. One jerk is taken down, and the other is probably mortally wounded even in victory.

  5. I would rather see Perry than Cruz win that seat. Cruz is still a real threat on a national level, but the whole world knows Perry is a doofus.

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