A new poll shows an ever-tightening race developing in the Republican Senate primary in Texas.
The latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune internet survey found Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst holding a single-digit lead over tea party upstart Ted Cruz, 40 percent to 31 percent. Former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert polls at 17 percent, while no other candidate in the crowded field breaks the ten-percent threshold. If no candidate eclipses 50 percent in the May 29 primary, the race will shift to a runoff on July 31.
Previous polls have shown Dewhurst with a sizable lead over the rest of the field, but the University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll may reflect a fast-changing race. Cruz, the former solicitor general, has won the endorsements of Sarah Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). An upset over Dewhurst would represent a second major victory for the tea party in 2012, after Richard Mourdock upended Sen. Dick Lugar in the Indiana Republican Senate primary earlier this month. Cruz and Dewhurst are vying to replace incumbent Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), who announced that she will not seek a fourth term.
