Ted Cruz leads Colin Allred by 5 points, new poll shows
New polling shows Republican incumbent Ted Cruz holds a 5-point lead over his Democratic challenger Colin Allred in the pair's highly competitive Senate race.
The Marist poll shows 51 percent of likely voters in Texas siding with Cruz, compared to 46 percent backing Allred.
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The poll surveyed 1,500 Texans between Oct. 3 and Oct. 7 and has a margin of error of +/-3.3 percentage points.
Allred is winning among independent voters, earning 51% of those votes, compared to just 43% for Cruz, according to polling.
READ MORE: Ted Cruz-Colin Allred: Where the candidates stand on the issues
According to the polling, Allred is still fighting a battle of name recognition.
25 percent of poll respondents say they have either never heard of Allred or aren't sure how to rate him.
Senate Democrats have started a multi-million dollar ad push in Texas in an attempt to raise Allred's profile.
Early voting in Texas begins on Oct. 21 and ends on Nov. 1.
Election day is Nov. 5.