Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has closed the gap in recent polling as he squares off against Attorney General Ken Paxton in a bitterly fought primary, though observers acknowledge he still faces a tough reelection bid.

A Texas Southern University poll released in August showed Paxton holding a 5-point lead over Cornyn among likely primary voters, down from 9-points in the same poll released in May. Meanwhile, an Emerson College poll also released last month showed Cornyn leading Paxton by one point.

The recent polls signal a tightening race after early surveys found Paxton, a staunch conservative, with double-digit leads in some cases, and point to what is sure to be one of the most fiercely fought primaries next year.

“The combination of Ken Paxton’s summer from hell has coincided with our campaign working hard to educate Texans about Sen. Cornyn’s actual record, and this has produced undeniable and significant polling movement in our direction,” said Matt Mackowiak, the Cornyn campaign’s senior adviser.

An Echelon Insights poll released in August also showed Cornyn down by 5 points. An internal poll released by the Senate Leadership Fund, which is supporting Cornyn, found Cornyn cutting Paxton’s lead in half to eight points.

Cornyn’s allies note that those polls, taken together with the Emerson College and Texas Southern University polls, show the incumbent senator down by an average of four points in a two-way race against Paxton.

“I’m confident that part of the........

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