Cornyn shows signs of life in Texas Senate poll

• Cornyn's primary chances have otherwise looked bleak, despite Senate GOP leaders warning the White House and major donors that a Paxton nomination could risk the seat.

Zoom in: The Emerson poll released Friday has Cornyn with 30% of Texas GOP primary voters, and Paxton with 29%. The margin of error is +/- 4.4%.

• The same poll showed 37% of voters still undecided.
• It's a major improvement for Cornyn, after polls earlier this summer showed him down by double digits to Paxton.
• The Emerson poll has Cornyn beating Democrat Colin Allred in a hypothetical match up by seven percentage points, with Paxton winning over Allred by five percentage points.

Zoom out: Groups affiliated with the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that's linked to Senate Republican leadership, have spent more than $4 million over the past month to boost Cornyn with Texas voters, according to AdImpact.

• Another pro-Cornyn super PAC spent an additional $3+ million over the same time frame.

• SLF has been warning donors that it could cost tens of millions of dollars to help Cornyn win the primary — though they add it could save them from having to spend hundreds of millions to help Paxton keep the seat from Democrats, as Punchbowl News first reported.

Methodology: The Emerson poll was conducted August 11-12 with a sample of 1,000 Texas registered voters. The GOP subsample was 491 and the subsample credibility interval (similar to a margin of error) was +/-4.4%.