AUSTIN, Texas (Legal Newsline) - Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democratic nominee for governor, is not making much headway against her Republican rival, Attorney General Greg Abbott, a recent poll shows.
In November, Public Policy Polling reported Abbott had a 50 to 35 percent advantage over Davis.
PPP's newest poll, released Tuesday, shows 51 percent of voters would select Abbott to Davis' 37 percent, which means Abbott's lead has shrunk only one percent.
The poll finds that Republicans are leading by double digits in all of Texas' major races for 2014.
In the race for Lieutenant Governor, state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, trails both Dan Patrick, 16 points, and incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, 18 points.
Patrick, a Houston conservative radio jockey, walloped Dewhurst in the March 4 primary, capturing 550,769 votes for 41.45 percent of the total vote - exceeding Dewhurst's 28.31 percent vote total.
The winner of a May 27 run-off election will face Van de Putte in the November general election.
PPP President Dean Debnam has a theory on why Democrats are not competitive in Texas this Election Year - the president's low approval rating in the Lone Star state.
"It looks like it's going to be an uphill battle for Democrats in Texas this year," Debnam said. "Barrack Obama's approval rating in the state is 36 percent and that makes life hard for his party's candidates."
Legal Newsline: Reach David Yates at elections@legalnewsline.com
Davis not making any headway in Texas governor race, poll shows
