TEXAS -- Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has a nine-point lead over his Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke, according to a new poll out Tuesday from Quinnipiac University.

The survey found Cruz with 54 percent support and El Paso congressman O’Rourke with 45 percent among likely voters. Only one percent of those polled were undecided.

"The Texas U.S. Senate race between Sen. Ted Cruz and Congressman Beto O'Rourke, and Democratic hopes for an upset win there, have boosted talk of a Senate takeover. These numbers may calm that talk," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a news release. "Congressman O'Rourke may be drawing big crowds and media attention, but Texas likely voters like Sen. Cruz better." 

This is the first survey of "likely" voters in this race released by Quinnipiac. Three earlier polls conducted by the group surveyed registered voters and found Cruz ahead by six points in August, 11 in May and three in April.

The latest poll was conducted between September 11 and 17 and surveyed 807 Texas likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points.