Blogs: September 2014

The 2014 Texas Lyceum Poll finds Greg Abbott leading Wendy Davis 49%-40% among likely voters. Libertarian and Green Party candidates Kathie Glass and Brandon Parmer each garnered two points, and eight percent declined to choose a candidate. The poll was conducted from September 11-25, and had an overall sample size of 1000 respondents. The trial ballot results were among a sub-group of 666 likely voters, and had a margin of error of +/- 3.80 percentage points.

Given the high-level discourse that pervades The Texas Tribune Festival, it may seem uncouth to scrutinize the event in the context of polling. But it's a useful way to analyze what was happening onstage.

By looking at the emotional dynamics underlying the Abbott and Davis campaigns' advertisements, one can get a clearer sense of how each really views the 2014 Texas Governor's race.

Recent polls have painted two divergent pictures of the Greg Abbott-Wendy Davis race. Here's a rundown of what that means and what to pay attention to as November draws near.

Greg Abbott has always been more comfortable making this campaign about Wendy Davis than about the issues that Davis wants to discuss. The timing of Davis’ book release may have inadvertently helped him do just that.

The ongoing CBS News/NYT The Upshot/YouGov Battleground Tracker released the results of their second wave of polling in the 2014 US Senate races today (in what seems like something of a soft launch). Results from the Texas Senate race find incumbent John Cornyn still holding a 20-percentage point lead over Democrat David Alameel (51-31).

In the June 2014 University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, we asked registered voters under what circumstances a woman should be able to obtain an abortion.

Rick Perry’s governorship has transcended the spirit of the Texas Constitution. The indictment begs for a discussion of whether his version of the governorship is the one Texans want or need.