Donald Trump's advantage in Texas fell to within the margin of error, according to a Thursday poll.
From WFAA-TV and Texas TEGNA television stations, the poll shows Trump barely leading his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, in a four-way matchup with Libertarian Gary Johnson and the Green Party's Jill Stein.
- Trump: 47 percent;
- Clinton: 43 percent;
- Johnson: 3 percent;
- Stein: 1 percent.
"I think to put these numbers in context — it shows that Trump's position has eroded a little bit," Matthew Wilson, Political Science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, told WFAA. "His lead is down to four percentage points according to this poll, but even in the wake of some really terrible news for him, he still leads in Texas, which shows what a tough nut Texas is to crack for Democratic candidates right now."
Conducted by SurveyUSA between Monday and Wednesday, after the release of the 2005 video of Trump having a lewd conversation and the second presidential debate.
"It pretty consistently shows that Trump is struggling in Texas more than a Republican typically would," Wilson continued. "He's still highly likely to win the state in the end but we typically see double digit margins for Republican candidates and Trump seems unlikely to produce that.
According to Real Clear Politics, Trump has an average of six percentage points on Clinton, with only this poll showing him with a less than six point lead.
Those polled were also asked whether they thought transgender students should be able to use the bathroom of their gender identity, rather than the one listed on their birth certificate.
- Yes: 38 percent;
- No: 54 percent;
- Unsure: 8 percent.
"The other interesting thing that it points to is that you've got some number of people who are saying they oppose transgender students using the bathroom of their choice who are also saying they support Hillary Clinton because 54 percent of people are opposed to transgender bathroom access but you've only got 40 something percent supporting Donald Trump," Wilson said.
"Those people are almost certainly black and Latino voters who've got socially conservative values but who are attracted to the Democratic ticket for other reasons."
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