Ted Cruz's chances of keeping his Texas senate seat are getting smaller, polls show

Texas Senator Ted Cruz's lead in the polls heading into the November elections, where he will seek to retain his seat and fend off challenger Colin Allred, is the smallest it's ever been at least in months.

According to the most recent survey, conducted by YouGov among 1,365 likely voters, the incumbent is leading by just two percentage points, 47% to 45%. Ted Brown, running as an independent, garners 3% of the support.

It is the smallest margin Cruz has had since at least June, according to FiveThirtyEight's poll aggregator. The latest survey by YouGov, which has had the largest samples of all studies featured in the website, had the incumbent with a three-point margin over Allred, 47% to 44%.

Other ones with fewer likely voters interviewed have the Republican with a larger lead. One by ActiVote, conducted between June 25 and July 18 among 400 likely voters (LV), shows Cruz with 54% of the support, compared to Allred's 46%. Another one by the Remington Research Group among 589 LV features Cruz with a 10-point lead, 53% to 43%.

Allred has been keeping his campaign focused on state issues, rather than nationals, but on Thursday he was at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to support Kamala Harris.

Allred delivered remarks on the last day of the DNC in Chicago, saying "I'm so proud to be here to support our next president, Kamala Harris." He then focused mostly on his attempt to beat Cruz and the need to do the same with GOP nominee Donald Trump, who he described as "me-guys."

"You know, the type to talk a big game, only care about themselves, but you don't want to get stuck with them at a barbecue. We got a message the me-guys. 'We' is more powerful than 'me,'" Allred said during a passage of his 3-minute speech.

"We will restore reproductive freedom. We will secure the border. We will protect Medicare and Social Security. And we will turn the page and write a new chapter for this country and elect Kamala Harris to be the next president and beat Ted Cruz," he added to a crowd that erupted in chants of "Beat Ted Cruz."

Allred took the stage along with other Democrats in competitive Senate races, among them Arizona's Ruben Gallego and Michigan's Elissa Slotkin. Allred is currently trailing Cruz in the polls, with the margins varying sharply from study to study.

Cruz, on his end, boasted this week about receiving a key show of support: that of the union representing the U.S. Border Patrol. He was officially endorsed in an event in the border town of Edinburg, where he delivered a speech before hundreds of agents and their families at the National Border Patrol Council's national headquarters.