New poll shows Democrat smashing record held for 40 years in red state

PoliticsFILE - At left, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks in McKinney, Texas, May 19, 2026, and at right, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, after voting, in Austin, Texas, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero and Eric Gay,File)AP Photo/LM Otero/Eric GayBy Howard Koplowitz | hkoplowitz@al.comThe possibility of James Talarico turning Texas blue is more than just hype, according to CNN’s data guru, after a new poll showed he has the biggest lead for a Senate candidate in the state this late in the campaign in nearly 40 years.“This is earthshattering, earthquake stuff,” CNN’s Harry Enten said Wednesday after the CNN/SSRS poll showed Talarico leading Republican Ken Paxton by six percentage points — outside the survey’s 4.2- percentage-point margin of error.“This is the best Democratic Senate polling since Lloyd Bentsen won in Texas … 38 years ago. We’re talking 1988. My goodness gracious," Enten told CNN’s John Berman, referring to Texas’ last Democratic U.S. Senator.Among the highlights of the poll is Talarico’s 21-point lead against Paxton among independents.“You know, they talk about Texas turning blue in the past. But there’s never been polling like this,” Enten said. “James Talarico in a historically strong position for a Democrat in the great state of Texas.”Helping Talarico’s standing with Texas voters is that Paxton, who has been dogged by several scandals and is not viewed as a strong campaigner, is the least popular Texas Republican nominee this century with a -29 net approval rating, Enten said.“He is lower than the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, my goodness gracious,” Enten continued. “He’s down there in the Gulf of Mexico — or Gulf of America, if we’re talking Trump’s language here.“But Ken Paxton, a historically unpopular candidate, which has helped leading to James Talarico’s historically strong polling for a Democrat in Texas.”Talarico’s poll numbers are also due in part to Trump’s unpopularity in the Lone Star State, where the president has a -18 net approval rating.“President Trump is joining Ken Paxton down there swimming in the Gulf of America,” Enten said. “This is the most unpopular president at this point in a term this century.”“So, Donald Trump being historically unpopular and Ken Paxton being historically unpopular for a Republican Senate nominee in Texas, and you put that together and you get Democrats in their best position to win a United States Senate seat in the great state of Texas since 1988 and Lloyd Bentsen,” Enten said.Texas is one of the key battlegrounds determining which party will control the Senate after Nov. 3.According to data compiled by polling expert Nate Silver, Talarico is ahead of Paxton by 3 percentage points — 49% to Paxton’s 46%.Howard Koplowitz is AL.com's Breaking & Trending Reporter for afternoons and nights. He has been with AL.com since 2015 and has served in a variety of roles, ranging from coverage of Donald Trump's first...