In a new Second Reading Podcast, Jim Henson and Josh Blank discuss what UT/Texas Politics Project polling can tell us about Texan's attention to the Paxton impeachment – and the notion that his reelection implied voters' forgiveness of his legal and ethical troubles. The podcast touches on the discussion in a recent blog post on the subject.
Snapshots of Texans' awareness of Ken Paxton's legal problems
The share of Texans who reported having heard "a lot" about "the legal problems of Attorney General Ken Paxton" increased was only 20% right before the 2022 general election. It increased to 31% by June 2023, after he was impeached by the Texas House.
| category | Total |
|---|---|
| A lot | 20% |
| Some | 37% |
| Not very much | 26% |
| Nothing at all | 16% |
| category | Total |
|---|---|
| A lot | 31% |
| Some | 40% |
| Not very much | 17% |
| Nothing at all | 12% |
Snapshots of trend in Paxton job approval ratings
| category | Approve | Disapprove | Don't know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr. 2021 | 32% | 36% | 31% |
| June 2021 | 33% | 36% | 32% |
| Aug. 2021 | 35% | 38% | 28% |
| Oct. 2021 | 35% | 37% | 28% |
| Feb. 2022 | 32% | 35% | 33% |
| Apr. 2022 | 34% | 36% | 30% |
| June 2022 | 34% | 39% | 27% |
| Aug. 2022 | 37% | 38% | 25% |
| Oct. 2022 | 36% | 39% | 26% |
| Dec. 2022 | 41% | 37% | 21% |
| Feb. 2023 | 35% | 38% | 26% |
| Apr. 2023 | 39% | 35% | 26% |
| June 2023 | 30% | 41% | 28% |
| Aug. 2023 | 27% | 46% | 28% |
| Oct. 2023 | 32% | 42% | 25% |
| Dec. 2023 | 35% | 38% | 26% |
| Feb. 2024 | 41% | 37% | 22% |
| Apr. 2024 | 41% | 35% | 24% |
| June 2024 | 36% | 38% | 25% |
| Aug. 2024 | 33% | 38% | 28% |
| Q8D | Approve | Disapprove | Don't know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr. 2021 | 59% | 11% | 30% |
| June 2021 | 58% | 10% | 32% |
| Aug. 2021 | 61% | 11% | 28% |
| Oct. 2021 | 65% | 12% | 23% |
| Feb. 2022 | 55% | 13% | 31% |
| Apr. 2022 | 62% | 8% | 30% |
| June 2022 | 60% | 15% | 25% |
| Aug. 2022 | 66% | 13% | 22% |
| Oct. 2022 | 65% | 12% | 24% |
| Dec. 2022 | 73% | 7% | 19% |
| Feb. 2023 | 65% | 9% | 27% |
| Apr. 2023 | 65% | 13% | 23% |
| June 2023 | 51% | 19% | 30% |
| Aug. 2023 | 46% | 23% | 31% |
| Oct. 2023 | 50% | 20% | 30% |
| Dec. 2023 | 58% | 15% | 28% |
| Feb. 2024 | 61% | 16% | 23% |
| Apr. 2024 | 61% | 14% | 25% |
| June 2024 | 58% | 14% | 27% |
| Aug. 2024 | 54% | 13% | 32% |
| Q8D | Approve | Disapprove | Don't know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr. 2021 | 5% | 68% | 27% |
| June 2021 | 7% | 66% | 27% |
| Aug. 2021 | 5% | 72% | 23% |
| Oct. 2021 | 3% | 68% | 29% |
| Feb. 2022 | 10% | 61% | 29% |
| Apr. 2022 | 6% | 69% | 25% |
| June 2022 | 5% | 73% | 21% |
| Aug. 2022 | 9% | 71% | 20% |
| Oct. 2022 | 6% | 70% | 23% |
| Dec. 2022 | 11% | 70% | 18% |
| Feb. 2023 | 12% | 71% | 15% |
| Apr. 2023 | 17% | 62% | 21% |
| June 2023 | 10% | 69% | 20% |
| Aug. 2023 | 12% | 71% | 19% |
| Oct. 2023 | 12% | 70% | 18% |
| Dec. 2023 | 13% | 68% | 18% |
| Feb. 2024 | 24% | 60% | 16% |
| Apr. 2024 | 22% | 59% | 18% |
| June 2024 | 15% | 65% | 21% |
| Aug. 2024 | 13% | 69% | 19% |
| Q8D | Approve | Disapprove | Don't know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr. 2021 | 23% | 26% | 52% |
| June 2021 | 24% | 33% | 43% |
| Aug. 2021 | 32% | 37% | 31% |
| Oct. 2021 | 26% | 36% | 38% |
| Feb. 2022 | 22% | 38% | 41% |
| Apr. 2022 | 21% | 36% | 44% |
| June 2022 | 23% | 37% | 40% |
| Aug. 2022 | 31% | 36% | 34% |
| Oct. 2022 | 31% | 35% | 33% |
| Dec. 2022 | 34% | 43% | 23% |
| Feb. 2023 | 25% | 31% | 43% |
| Apr. 2023 | 19% | 44% | 38% |
| June 2023 | 21% | 40% | 38% |
| Aug. 2023 | 21% | 51% | 27% |
| Oct. 2023 | 20% | 53% | 26% |
| Dec. 2023 | 28% | 45% | 27% |
| Feb. 2024 | 26% | 43% | 31% |
| Apr. 2024 | 28% | 35% | 37% |
| June 2024 | 23% | 47% | 31% |
| Aug. 2024 | 24% | 37% | 40% |
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 Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.