Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz has a 54 45 percent likely voter lead over U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke, his Democratic challenger, in the Texas Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released today. This is the first survey of likely voters in this race by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll, and can not be compared to earlier surveys of registered voters.