Winter Springs, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/01/2013 -- When asked whether they preferred a generic Tea Party candidate over the incumbent Senator John Cornyn III (R-Texas), Texas Republicans favored the Tea Party candidate, according to a recent poll of conservative voters. The poll which was conducted by Gravis Marketing polled 563 registered Republican voters in the state of Texas. Only 33 percent of those polled chose to support Cornyn in a hypothetical primary race against a generic Tea Party candidate while 46 percent chose the generic Tea Party candidate.

In a series of additional questions, the poll named several possible politicians who could face off with Cornyn in a primary race, but none of these politicians garnered the support that the generic Tea Party candidate did. The enthusiastic support for a generic Tea Party candidate over any established members of the Republic party highlights a growing rift in the Republican party, a rift that some have called a "civil war".

The poll continued to question voters about several issues that may define the difference between Tea Party supporters and traditional supporters of the Republican party. When asked about amnesty for illegal aliens, 81 percent of those polled replied that they do not support amnesty, and 79 percent of those polled were eager to support the push against Obamacare.

The recent shift among Republican voters toward more conservative viewpoints was expressed in two of the poll's questions that focused on Cornyn. When asked if Cornyn understood the problems of "regular" Texans, 39 percent of respondents said that he did not. Over a third of respondents (36 percent) reported that Cornyn is less conservative than he was six years ago.

Whether Cornyn changed or the voter base did was inclusive in this poll, but the respondents' answers highlight a hunger for voters to see more conservative candidates like the generic Tea Party candidate. The fact that voters also seemed to identify more with a Tea Party candidate than an established Republican candidate underscores the idea that voters may feel closer to candidates who are part of a so-called grassroots movement like the Tea Party.

The full results of this poll October 26 poll are available at http://gravismarketing.com/gravis-marketing-poll-ivr/

Conducted by Gravis Marketing and Human Events, a conservative news outlet, this poll had a three percent margin of error. Gravis Marketing is a Florida-based polling organization that was founded in 2010. Gravis Marketing polls have been included with other groups of polls gathered by Real Clear Politics. The company focuses on state-of-the-art telephone polling and political advertising products, and its clients include political campaigns, consultants, and non-profits from all over the world. Previous Gravis Marketing polls Boehner IVR Poll