HOUSTON — When you think Presidential battlegrounds, states like Florida, Ohio and North Carolina come to top of mind.
But new polling suggests Texas could be a real battleground state in 2020.
Five months out from Election Day, the latest Quinnipiac University poll has President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden neck and neck in the Lone Star State, with Trump narrowly leading 44-43 percent.
"If Texas goes to Joe Biden, I don't see how the president can be reelected," said KHOU political analyst Bob Stein.
Stein says it's a warning sign for Trump: Republicans can no longer take Texas for granted. If Biden were to flip the state, it would be the first time Texas goes blue in 40 years.
"This is an election about turnout, not about persuasion," said Stein.
The poll factored in the global pandemic and economic recession, but was conducted before massive protests over the killing of George Floyd.
"This is only going to add fuel to that flame," said Bishop James Dixon. "We see people marching together, black, white, brown, Democrats and Republicans, liberal and conservatives."
Dixon says those are voters who could swing Texas.
Texas has the largest number of registered African American voters in the country.
"We have enough black and Latino voters to turn this state," said Brianna Brown, the deputy director for the Texas Organizing Project.
Organizers and activists across the state are now working to harness that energy to turn it into votes.
"People are galvanized in a way only a pandemic and only one more video of a black man being murdered on the street can galvanize people," said Brown.
The latest poll is further proof Texas will be close, but how close, is impossible to predict.
"I'm not ready to predict Democrats will win Texas, but it won't surprise me," Stein said.
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