John Cornyn

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton leads U.S. Sen. John Cornyn 47% to 36% in a new Remington Research Group poll of likely voters in the Republican runoff election for Texas' U.S. Senate seat.

Lone Star Liberty PAC commissioned the poll, which was conducted just weeks before the May 26 Republican runoff.

Among self-identified "Trump Republicans," Paxton leads Cornyn 55% to 28%. And among "very conservative" voters, Paxton leads 55% to 29%.

President Donald Trump has not endorsed either candidate in the race after Cornyn led Paxton 42% to 40% in the Republican primary, with Rep. Wesley Hunt receiving 13.5% of the vote.

Cornyn's strongest support comes from moderate and traditional Republicans, though 62% of runoff voters identify as very conservative and 9% identify as moderate or liberal.

He has a net negative image among likely runoff voters, with 45% viewing him unfavorably and 34% favorably.

Nearly 7 in 10 voters said they've heard a lot about Cornyn, yet voters are almost twice as likely to say that what they have seen or heard makes them less likely to support him, the poll found.

The survey found that Paxton's support tracks closely with the ideological makeup of the Republican runoff electorate. Statewide, 51% of voters view him favorably, while 30% hold an unfavorable opinion.

Republican voters who have been exposed to information about Paxton are more likely to move toward him than away from him, the poll found.

Paxton leads Cornyn in every major market except Austin and leads Cornyn by 22 points in Houston, 53% to 31%.

"With Paxton holding a double-digit lead, stronger favorability ratings, and dominant support among Trump-aligned and very conservative voters, the survey suggests Cornyn's window for recovery in the final weeks of the campaign has nearly closed," Remington concluded.

The survey of 1,810 likely Texas Republican primary runoff voters was conducted May 3-5 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.