Post Date: September 2013

Education Could Test Both Parties

| By: Jim Henson, PhD and Joshua Blank, PhD

Education could be a tricky issue for gubernatorial candidates in 2014, with both the Democratic and Republican nominee having to navigate through unexpected cross-currents among their own constituencies.

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Lies, Damn Lies and Campaign Polls

| By: Jim Henson and Joshua Blank

An ever-expanding niche market of political junkies — and the specialized media that feeds it — finds news in polling results and in conflicts over polling practice. The release of internal polls becomes as much about shaping public opinion as it is about measuring it.

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Keywords: 2014 Election

Are Suburban Women Key to Democratic Resurgence?

| By: Jim Henson, PhD and Joshua Blank, PhD

While the Hispanic vote has been the focus of much of the analysis of Democrats’ prospects for turning the Republican tide, in the short term, they will almost certainly need to look to suburban women — especially if Wendy Davis is at the top of the ticket.

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Inventing Abbott

| By: Jim Henson, PhD and Joshua Blank, PhD

For all the advantages that have lent the feel of an unofficial coronation to his candidacy for governor, Attorney General Greg Abbott remains an undefined figure among many Texas voters, including as many as 40 percent of Republican primary voters. 

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