Love 'em or hate 'em, the choice may not be for the better candidate. There is a pattern among voters to back the candidate who is not as bad as the other and Lubbock residents fit right into that mold.
Texans are leaning towards Trump. According to a new poll from the University of Texas, Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton by 8 percent in the Lone Star State. In a head-to-head match-up, the presumptive republican nominee has 41 percent and the presumptive democratic nominee has 33 percent.
It is no surprise that the presumptive GOP nominee is leading in one of the most conservative states in the country, but his advantage is dwindling.
"We've seen the polls trickle a little bit down for him," said Texas Tech political science professor, Seth McKee. "It is very much a traditional red, Republican state, and Donald Trump is not your typical candidate. We know that."
When Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is added to the mix, the results are not skewed dramatically. Johnson garners 7 percent support, Trump 39 percent and Clinton 32 percent. McKee said Johnson will barely affect Texas results.
"Because Texas isn't competitive, you may have people who do vote for Gary Johnson at a higher rate than a battleground state, where both parties are going to be working harder to get their voters out because it's going to be more contested and they want to win it," McKee said.
The reasons behind voter's decisions create a unique pattern.
"This is a lesser of the two evils race," McKee explained. "Never in American history since we've been doing polling have we seen two candidates that are more unpopular than they are popular."
"Well, I'm not really pleased with either of the candidates," a Lubbock resident said.
Fifty-five percent of Trump supporters said they backed him only because they do not want Clinton in the Oval Office.
"If you look at her numbers and what makes her unfavorable so high is that voters are very untrusting of her," McKee said.
"Probably Trump," a Lubbock resident answered when asked about his pick for the upcoming election. "Cause Hillary is on the other side."
There was a similar story with Clinton backers; 43 percent explained their support for Clinton is purely to deny Trump the presidency.
"This is someone who's not afraid to say things that are very offensive," McKee said.
"Normally I wouldn't be voting for Hillary but Donald is just too scary," a Lubbock resident said.
McKee said this pattern is largely due to party labels.
"When you look at the Democratic party and what Republicans think it stands for and vice versa there's a lot of disagreement on major issues that voters care about," McKee said.
To see the full results of the UT poll, visit this website.
