A new poll shows Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton gained 3 points in Texas, a state that nearly always votes for the Republican nominee.
If the election were held today, nearly 45 percent of respondents said they would vote for the GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, and about 38 percent said they would vote for Clinton, according to the poll from Dixie Strategies, Dallas-Fort Worth outlet CBS 11 reported.
In an August poll, Clinton had 35 percent to Trump's 46, CBS 11 reported.
"He really should be doing a lot better," said pollster Brian Graham of Dixie Strategies. "There's no reason why, at this late stage in the game that he should be under 50 percent in the state of Texas."
The poll showed that over the same period, both candidates' favorability marks improved. Trump improved his favorability by 11 points. Around 48 percent view him as somewhat or very favorable, compared to Clinton's 36 percent. In August, only 37 percent viewed Trump favorably and 31 percent felt the same way about Clinton.
A RealClearPolitics average of polls shows Trump with a 6.3 percentage point lead in Texas. No Democrat has won the presidential race in Texas since Jimmy Carter did 40 years ago.
The Dixie Strategies poll was conducted Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 and interviewed 780 likely voters in Texas by phone. The poll has a 3.51 percentage point margin of error.
