Research 2000: Cornyn 48% Noriega 44%

The Rick Noriega campaign sent out an email earlier today with more good news for Texas Democrats and more bad news for John Cornyn. This Research 2000 poll shows Cornyn at 48% and Noriega at 44%.

This makes two polls in one week that show Senator Cornyn under 50% and two polls in one week that show Rick Noriega to be within the margin of error of Senator Cornyn.

The Research 2000 poll was commissioned by Daily Kos (you can find the crosstabs here) and adds another fascinating statistical nugget to the discussion: 91% of those polled had made up their minds about John Cornyn to the tune of 41% having either an unfavorable or very unfavorable opinion about him. Only 73% of those polled had made up their minds about Rick Noriega with 31% having either an unfavorable or very unfavorable opinion about him.

That leads me to believe that John Cornyn doesn't have much upside to improve his favorability ratings between now and November while Rick Noriega is looking at a sizable number of persuadable Texas voters.