Blogs: Immigration

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.

In a new Second Reading podcast, James Henson and Joshua Blank look at Texas public opinion related to some of the big Supreme Court decisions this week, and have a ranging discussion about signs of the emergence of stronger, if more polarized political parties. They also touch on news of Kelly Hancock's imminent departure as Acting Comptroller and the politics of the governor's appointment of the Republican candidate for the office, former state senator Don Huffines.

James Henson and Joshua Blank join the response to the much-discussed memo from Ragnar Research's Chris Perkins on signs of sagging participation among Republican primary voters in Texas, and make some connections with the shifting politics of immigration and border security in the Texas GOP.

James Henson and Joshua Blank check in on Gov. Abbott’s pressure on Houston, Dallas, and Austin to change immigration enforcement politics and planned spending by both parties on Texas Congressional races, then go deep on the Texas Lyceum Poll’s look at Texans’ views of the quality of life in Texas.

In the latest Second Reading podcast, James Henson and Joshua Blank use Texas polling to compare and contrast the issues at play in the Republican and Democratic primaries in Texas. Plus, some brief discussion of the latest NYT/Sienna national poll and the coverage of polling conducted by campaigns.

James Henson and Joshua Blank look at the polling results on health care, immigration, and the 2026 U.S. Senate race in the final UT/Texas Politics Poll of 2025, and what those results portend for the 2026 election year.

The final University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll of 2025 found Texas voters' attention to high prices pivoting towards health care costs as the 2026 election moves to the center of state politics.

The UT/Texas Politics Project Poll team – – Joshua Blank, Daron Shaw, and James Henson – look at results the much-noted decline in President Trump's job approval numbers in their June poll, and how Trump's standing intersects attitudes on the economy and immigration, as well as what can be read into the current positions of Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton in anticipation of Paxton's challenge to Cornyn in the 2026 GOP primary.

James Henson and Joshua Blank talk about how immigration protests, the Trump administration’s push for redistricting in Texas, and the short-lived in-state tuition lawsuit have disturbed the post session lull in the Lone Star State.

In a meeting of the Texas Politics Project poll team, Daron Shaw and Joshua Blank talk with James Henson about results in the April 2025 University of Texas / Texas Politics Project Poll.