After filing for the Senate last week, Texas Democrat Rick Noriega, a state representative, commissioned a Lake Research poll of 500 likely Texas voters, as the Houston Chronicle reports. The results weren't spectacular for Noriega, but certainly offered a glimmer of a chance against Cornyn, running for his first reelection to the Senate since winning the open seat in 2002 with 55% against a strong candidate -- former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk.

Of those polled, 41% disapproved of the job Cornyn has done in the Senate, while 31% said they would definitely vote for him next November and 53% said they would consider someone else. If nothing else, this encouraging poll should help Noriega's fundraising abilities by dispelling potential donors' worries that Cornyn is unbeatable.

In Cornyn's favor is the fact that the two top Republicans in the state were just reelected statewide in 2006, a favorable year for Democrats around the country. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison won reelection in 2006 with 62% of the vote, a strong win for an incumbent, though it was against an underfunded candidate who lacked enough money to compete statewide. Republican Gov. Rick Perry was also reelected in 2006, though he won just 39% of the vote in a four-candidate contest. Democrat Chris Bell took 30%, while two independent candidates combined to take 30% as well.

Though he has less than a month left before his first FEC filing deadline, his fundraising total on the 1st of January will be the first sign of how strong a candidate he will be. As of today, his only competition for the Democratic nomination is high school teacher Ray McMurrey, of Corpus Christi.

-- Kyle Trygstad