In New UT/Texas Tribune Poll, Trump Leads Biden; Abbott’s Approval Slips

This week in Texas politics with The Texas Tribune.

By Rhonda Fanning & Alexandra HartOctober 9, 2020 1:44 pm, , , , , ,

It’s time for the week that was in Texas politics with Alex Samuels, political reporter for The Texas Tribune.

On Friday, the University of Texas/Texas Tribune released its latest poll, showing Texans’ opinions at this point in the presidential race. Respondents favored Donald Trump to Joe Biden by a five-point margin, with Trump earning 50% of the support to Biden’s 45%.

“Even though we’ve been through what feels like a million news cycles in 2020, the race for Texas voters has pretty much remained the same,” Samuels said. “The survey was conducted during a period that included the first presidential debate and Trump’s hospitalization [for COVID-19], but even so, the results from today’s survey are in line with previous University of Texas/Texas Tribune surveys.”

The poll also found that Republican Sen. John Cornyn holds an eight-point lead over Democratic challenger MJ. Hegar ahead of their upcoming debate Friday night. Meanwhile, approval numbers for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have dipped slightly, as the coronavirus pandemic drags on.

“If you look at the top lines for Gov. Greg Abbott, it’s not bad: 47% of Texas registered voters approve of his job performance, while 40% do not, which is a seven-point spread. But in June, that spread was 10 percentage points. And in April, when the governor had just started reacting to the pandemic, it was 24 points.”

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