A new poll from Democrat-leaning Public Policy Polling (PDF) indicates U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R) leads U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso), 48%-45%, among “registered voters.” The poll was conducted for Protect Our Care, a group fighting efforts to repeal the federal Affordable Care Act.

The most interesting result from the poll is that neither candidate is, on balance, very popular. Respondents were evenly split on whether the view O’Rourke favorably (39/40) while Cruz received a slightly unfavorable (43/48) review of his job performance. President Trump’s job approval rating falls in between (47/50).

Consistent with most recent polls, this one shows a strong gender gap. O’Rourke leads among women, 48%-43%, while Cruz leads among men, 53%-41%. Women disapprove of Trump’s job performance (41/56) while men approve (53/44). Women trust Democrats more (55/41) on health care policy while men trust Republicans more (51/44). Also consistent with most recent polls, “independent” voters are on balance disapproving of Trump (44/52) and Cruz (39/50). However, Cruz narrowly leads among independents, 46%-44%.

Hispanic/Latino respondents strongly disapprove of Trump’s job performance (27/71) and Cruz’s (21/60). Notably, 38% of Hispanic/Latino respondents have no opinion of O’Rourke, though those that do view him favorably (40/22). O’Rourke leads among Hispanic/Latino voters, 58%-33%.

Trump’s job performance is viewed unfavorably by voters under aged 18 to 45 (31/69), and that group prefers O’Rourke, 52%-39%.

The poll of 613 “registered voters” was in the field September 19-20. It has a stated margin of error of ±4%.

Another poll, conducted by Vox Populi (PDF), finds the race to be a tie, 46%-46%, with the remaining respondents leaning equally toward Cruz and O’Rourke. The poll of 508 “registered voters” – 308 via interactive voice response and 200 via app – was in the field September 16-18. No crosstabs were provided. The stated margin of error is ±4.4%.

Recent polls and our reports about them:

We will repost this list with additional polls as we get closer to Election Day.

* We have serious reservations about the Ipsos and Emerson polls and included them in our reports, and on this list, solely because they received national news attention.

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