Blogs: James Henson

A compilation of Texas Politics Project polling provides context for the Republican midterm conventing being held in Dallas.

The August 2026 University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll finds 42% of Texas voters preferring Democrat James Talarico and 39% planning to vote for Republican Ken Paxton in the hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott led Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa 45%-40%, as Texans continue to voice reservations about data centers and express intense concern about prices.

The blooming public discussion in Texas (as well as nationally) suggests many direct reasons for opposition to data centers, particularly in rural and suburban areas, including anticipated higher energy costs, environmental concerns, quality of life issues, and objections to state-provided subsidies for data center construction and operation. However, the latest UT/TxPP Polling suggests another likely contributor to Texans’ skepticism: their at-best mixed attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI).

The latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll finds a very tight race in the election for the U.S. Senate, Texas voters largely opposed to building data centers in their communities, and continuing concern about prices and the economy.

How similar is the 2026 election environment in Texas to 2018, the last statewide election in which Democrats were able to gain meaningful ground on Texas Republicans’ control of the Texas Legislature, and came within striking distance of winning some statewide races? The Texas Politics Project's deep archive of public opinion data allows us to make useful comparisons of public attitudes toward candidates and conditions in 2018 and 2026.

Despite the steady decline in his overall approval ratings nationally, trends in the President's standing among Texas Republicans remains a solid asset in GOP primaries.

The main takeaway from hypothetical head-to-heads in the U.S. Senate race in Texas isn’t that Talarico is “ahead” – it’s that voter mobilization may be the main challenge to Republican success in the 2026 general election.

In a new Second Reading podcast, James Henson and Josh Blank look at the quasi-normal looking polling on the general election matchups for Texas Governor and Lt. Governor, and assess macrolevel indicators of the political mood in Texas.

The April University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll finds Texans feeling the pain from a sharp rise in gas prices fueled by war in the Middle East, with 61% of Texas voters “very concerned” about the price of gasoline and energy amidst renewed worries about the economy and prices overall.

The latest UT/Texas Politics Project Poll finds the three-way Republican race remains likely headed to a run-off, while Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett maintains her advantage in the Democratic contest, even as State Representative James Talarico continues making inroads among a Democratic electorate to whom he was largely unknown prior to his first statewide campaign