Texas (WBAP/KLIF) – A new poll of about 1400 voters who cast ballots in Texas last year found that incumbent Governor Greg Abbott and former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke are virtually tied with Abbott at 44% to O’rourke’s 43% … 10% of respondents were undecided. That, as O’rourke has yet to officially declare his candidacy, but is expected to do so by year’s end.
The poll was conducted by Rice University and the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation (TxHPF) … foundation Chairman Jason Villaba says that “Abbott’s shift to the hard right may have imperiled his governorship.”
On it’s website, the TxHPF says that their new polling shows the two-term governor Abbott with an overwhelming lead in the GOP primary race: Abbott is ahead of his next-closest rival, former state Republican Party Chairman Allen West, by 51 percentage points, with 64% of the most likely GOP primary voters intending to vote for Abbott compared to 13% for West.
The poll also found that Attorney General Ken Paxton has an overwhelming lead in his race for re-election, garnering support from 54% of likely Republican primary voters. The closest candidate to Paxton, Land Commissioner George P. Bush, has support from 18%, with other candidates in single digits.
“Abbott and Paxton are showing a great deal of strength heading into the Republican primary,” said TxHPF Director of Research and Analytics Mark P. Jones of Rice University.
View the full report here.
(Copyright 2021 WBAP/KLIF 24/7 News. This report contains material from Axios he Dallas Morning News.)