Betomania is running hog wild once again in Texas.

Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke, the former U.S. House member whose unconventional campaign nearly upset Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 and set the stage for a presidential bid that flamed out spectacularly, has risen from the ashes.

The 52-year-old now appears well-positioned to shake up the Democratic Senate primary, according to a new poll showing he would be the party’s preferred standard-bearer if he enters the race for the seat of Republican Sen. John Cornyn.

The Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University released a survey of likely 2026 primary voters on Tuesday, showing Mr. O’Rourke has a 58% to 38% lead over former Rep. Colin Allred, who announced last month that he is running, after falling short last year against Mr. Cruz.

The remaining likely primary voters surveyed are undecided.

Meanwhile, the survey showed Mr. Cornyn is trailing Attorney General Ken Paxton in the GOP Senate primary race, by 44% to 39%. The veteran lawmaker and staple of Texas politics has trailed Mr. Paxton in most early polls.

In a potential three-way race that includes Rep. Wesley Hunt, Mr. Paxton holds a 35% to 30% over Mr. Cornyn with Mr. Hunt at 22%. 

The remaining voters in each matchup were up for grabs.

On the Democratic side, Mr. Allred did hold a 50%-43% edge over state Rep. James Talarico, who has been raising his profile, and 52%-41% lead over Rep. Joaquin Castro in potential one-on-one matchups.

Still, the O’Rourke findings are also a potential bad omen for Mr. Allred.

Mr. Allred, a 42-year-old retired professional football player, is running strongest among men, white voters, the 55-plus crowd, and people with 4-year college degrees.

But Mr. O’Rourke still leads him among each of those electoral cohorts. 

The 52-year-old Mr. O’Rourke also had sizable advantages among women, Hispanics, younger generations, and people without college degrees.

Mr. O’Rourke recently stepped back into the spotlight in the fight over Trump-led push to have the Republican-controlled legislature redraw the states’ congressional maps to help the GOP gain at least five seats in the midterm elections.

Mr. O’Rourke and his political organization, Powered by People, raised over $1 million for the state Democratic lawmakers who fled Texas amid the redistricting battle.

The effort drew the ire of Mr. Paxton, who sued Mr. O’Rourke and won a temporary restraining order against the fundraising push. 

Mr. O’Rourke thumbed his nose at the initial order, urging a crowd at a rally the following day to donate to the runaway Democrats.

“He is trying to stop us from raising the resources they need to ultimately prevail and come through, and we are not going to let him stop us,” Mr. O’Rourke said of Mr. Paxton.

The F-bomb-dropping Mr. O’Rourke said he cannot sit idly by as so many Americans, universities, and billionaires bend the knee before Mr. Trump, whom he called a “would-be tyrant.”

“He doesn’t understand in Texas, our knees do not bend,” Mr. O’Rourke said. “We are going to fight these mother-[expletive] as long as it takes, with everything we’ve got. We are never giving in, we are never giving up, and we are never bending the knee.”

On Monday, the state’s Democratic lawmakers returned to Austin and allowed the legislature to make quorum and start the work on new maps.

The Texas Southern University poll included 1,500 likely Republican primary voters and 1,500 likely Democratic primary voters. 

The surveys were conducted between Aug. 6 and Aug. 12 and have a margin of error of 2.53 percentage points.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.