Texas voters prepare to influence presidential races

Super Tuesday is next week and the Lone Star State is one of a dozen states where voters will head to the polls.

The latest data show former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leading Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 57 to 33 percent on the Democratic side of the primary.

The most recent poll of Republican candidates shows Texas Sen. Ted Cruz leading in his home state with 36 percent support, compared with national front-runner Donald Trump’s 30 percent backing.

“Some candidates may look at a state and think the person they’re running against from (that state) is already so popular they don’t have a chance to win, so they start focusing on other states,” UTEP political science associate professor Dr. Jose Villalobos said about the approach some campaigns have taken in the past.

“They take a risk if they skip over any state. People will remember that.”

Cruz and Clinton may be leading in Texas, but no one is throwing in the towel on the state’s 252 total delegates.

The big question: how to be in twelve states at once, only a week ahead of Election Day?
“With the advances of technology, they’re able to speak to everybody, no matter where they’re at,” said Villalobos. “They usually try to be very strategic, and they’ll have their stump speech where they’ll integrate something specific to the people they’re visiting, but also try to speak to the broader audience.”

Villalobos spoke to ABC-7 as he and his students helped register other students to vote.

“Hopefully this year will be a very high turnout probably because a greater amount of competition than previous years,” Villalobos said.

Early voting is underway and Election Day is March 1. It’s too late to register to vote in the primary, but registration ahead of the November election continues until 30 days before Election Day.