Cruz’s approval rating goes south after his trip

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's approval rating took a hit after his family trip to Cancún during the Texas freeze, according to polling by Morning Consult, though he still remains popular among Texas Republicans.

Polling conducted Feb. 19-28 found Cruz's approval rating at 43 percent among Texas voters, 48 percent of whom said they disapprove of the senator. It was a reversal of his standing — and a doubledigit drop in net approval rating — from polls Morning

Consult conducted 10 days earlier.

Nationally, 49 percent of Republicans said they approve of Cruz — a 9 percentage point drop — even as his footing in his home state remained strong, with the approval of 71 percent of Texas Republicans.

It's the latest bit of bad news for the Texas senator widely expected to make another run for president. He ranked near the bottom of Republican hopefuls, with just 2 percent support, in a straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference over the weekend. The straw poll found Texas Gov. Greg Abbott,

another potential presidential contender, at the bottom with 0.1 percent support.

Cruz — who won the straw poll with 40 percent during his last presidential run in 2016 — spoke at the conference on Friday, joking “Orlando is awesome,” but “it's not as nice as Cancún.”

Cruz has said his Feb. 17 trip to Mexico with his family was “obviously a mistake.” He flew back after one night after pictures of him boarding a flight out of Houston sparked outrage on social media.