(The Center Square) – A new poll has Gov. Greg Abbott with a double-digit lead over Democratic challenger Robert “Beto” O’Rourke as Texans head to the polls Monday.
According to the new poll conducted by The Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, 54% surveyed expressed support for Abbott, 43% for O’Rourke. This is up from a Spectrum News/Siena College poll conducted last month that had Abbott leading O’Rourke by 7 percentage points.
A RealClear Politics average has Abbott ahead by 8.7%.
According to the Texas Project poll, both Abbott and O’Rourke received extremely strong support from those in their respective parties. Abbott received 95% support from registered Republicans, O’Rourke, 94% from registered Democrats. However, Abbott surged ahead of O’Rourke with Independents, with 60% supporting him compared to 29% supporting O’Rourke.
Overall on issues, Abbott received the highest support among all polled for his efforts on border security and illegal immigration, followed by Texas’ strong economy as more and more people are expressing dissatisfaction with Biden administration policies on both issues. When it comes to all issue areas, Abbott received the most support among conservatives, spanning from 57% support for his position on climate change to 88% supporting his position on border security.
Among those polled, 63% said they were voting for Abbott because they wanted him to be governor; 37% said they were voting for him because they don’t want O’Rourke to be governor.
According to the poll, O’Rourke’s overall favorability was 30% compared to a 42% very unfavorable rating. Among Democrats, 63% expressed very favorable support, with 26% expressing somewhat favorable support. Independents and conservatives expressed very unfavorable support by 47% and 81%, respectively.
In August, the Texas Project conducted a similar poll with 46% saying they trusted Abbott to do a better job on the economy compared to 35% who said they trusted O’Rourke more.
O’Rourke has proposed raising taxes on corporations, which he argues will offset property taxes. He’s also called on the state to increase the portion it spends on public school education to lessen what homeowners pay.
Since Abbott’s been in office, Texas leads the nation in job growth. In September, Texas once again led the U.S. in job creation over the past 12 months and broke the state’s all-time record for total jobs for the 11th month in a row. More Texans are working than ever before in state recorded history, setting a new record for total employed reaching 14,003,146 (nonfarm, self-employed, and other); total nonfarm jobs totaled 13,571,800 in September.
Because of Texas’ no state income tax and no business tax and other policies, Abbot has argued, more people are moving to the Lone Star State and more businesses are opening and hiring. The Texas Workforce Commission notes that there are more people working in Texas now than the entire population of Pennsylvania.
Early voting begins Monday, Oct. 24. Election Day is Nov. 8.
