Second Reading Podcast: Texas public opinion toward vouchers and Ken Paxton in the latest UT/Texas Politics Project Poll

Jim Henson and Joshua Blank look at Texans' views of vouchers as the legislature remains at an impasse on the issue, and discuss what the latest UT/Texas Politics Project Poll reveals about views of Ken Paxton as his securities fraud trial begins in Houston. After the podcast was recorded Tuesday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation adding public education items beyond vouchers to the call for the current special session of the legislature, along with a press release detailing components of a legislative proposal including appropriations for educational savings accounts and increased public school funding. 

The discussion references some of the following data.

On vouchers/ESA's and public education.

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categoryTotal
Extremely important25%
Very important25%
Somewhat important19%
Not very important10%
Not important15%
Don't know/No opinion6%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Extremely important17%26%32%
Very important19%21%28%
Somewhat important17%21%21%
Not very important10%17%8%
Not important29%14%5%
Don't know/No opinion7%2%6%

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CategoryLean conservativeSomewhat conservativeExtremely conservative
Extremely important21%32%41%
Very important32%31%27%
Somewhat important21%15%21%
Not very important12%12%3%
Not important9%3%5%
Don't know/No opinion6%7%3%

On Ken Paxton impeachment fallout.

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Yes, justified73%46%26%
No, not justified6%22%43%
Don't know/No opinion20%31%31%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Yes70%46%27%
No7%23%44%
Don't know/No opinion23%31%29%

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CategoryLean conservativeSomewhat conservativeExtremely conservative
Approve strongly10%27%36%
Approve somewhat23%29%29%
Neither approve nor disapprove29%17%13%
Disapprove somewhat8%7%6%
Disapprove strongly20%12%10%
Don't know10%8%6%

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Q8DApproveDisapproveDon't know
Apr. 202159%11%30%
June 202158%10%32%
Aug. 202161%11%28%
Oct. 202165%12%23%
Feb. 202255%13%31%
Apr. 202262%8%30%
June 202260%15%25%
Aug. 202266%13%22%
Oct. 202265%12%24%
Dec. 202273%7%19%
Feb. 202365%9%27%
Apr. 202365%13%23%
June 202351%19%30%
Aug. 202346%23%31%
Oct. 202350%20%30%
Dec. 202358%15%28%
Feb. 202461%16%23%
Apr. 202461%14%25%
June 202458%14%27%
Aug. 202454%13%32%
Oct. 202457%13%31%

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Q8DApproveDisapproveDon't know
Apr. 202123%26%52%
June 202124%33%43%
Aug. 202132%37%31%
Oct. 202126%36%38%
Feb. 202222%38%41%
Apr. 202221%36%44%
June 202223%37%40%
Aug. 202231%36%34%
Oct. 202231%35%33%
Dec. 202234%43%23%
Feb. 202325%31%43%
Apr. 202319%44%38%
June 202321%40%38%
Aug. 202321%51%27%
Oct. 202320%53%26%
Dec. 202328%45%27%
Feb. 202426%43%31%
Apr. 202428%35%37%
June 202423%47%31%
Aug. 202424%37%40%
Oct. 202412%47%41%

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Q8DApproveDisapproveDon't know
Apr. 202160%12%27%
June 202159%12%29%
Aug. 202162%12%27%
Oct. 202166%10%23%
Feb. 202256%15%29%
Apr. 202262%10%27%
June 202259%16%25%
Aug. 202265%14%21%
Oct. 202264%12%24%
Dec. 202270%11%18%
Feb. 202363%10%26%
Apr. 202363%13%24%
June 202350%23%27%
Aug. 202346%22%32%
Oct. 202354%20%26%
Dec. 202361%16%24%
Feb. 202463%16%22%
Apr. 202462%13%25%
June 202461%15%23%
Aug. 202458%15%27%
Oct. 202458%13%29%

 

About the Second Reading podcast. The podcast has been produced intermittently by Jim Henson for the Texas Politics Project, with production support from UT's Liberal Arts Development Studio, since 2016. You can find past episodes and subscribe to the Second Reading podcast in Apple PodcastsSpotify,  and Stitcher.

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