In the latest Second Reading podcast, Jim Henson talks with Ross Ramsey, co-founder and former executive editor of The Texas Tribune, about the reverberations in Texas of Donald Trump's presumed return as the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.
Touchstones from the latest Second Reading podcast
Some polling results mentioned in the podcast
| category | Favorable | Unfavorable | Neither/Don't know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 2015 | 54% | 31% | 12% |
| Feb. 2016 | 47% | 41% | 10% |
| June 2016 | 53% | 32% | 13% |
| Oct. 2016 | 60% | 30% | 10% |
| Feb. 2017 | 81% | 12% | 6% |
| Oct. 2020 | 85% | 12% | 4% |
| Feb. 2021 | 85% | 9% | 7% |
| June 2021 | 86% | 8% | 5% |
| Oct. 2021 | 82% | 12% | 6% |
| Feb. 2022 | 80% | 13% | 7% |
| Apr. 2022 | 79% | 10% | 10% |
| June 2022 | 76% | 12% | 11% |
| Aug. 2022 | 76% | 14% | 9% |
| Oct. 2022 | 82% | 9% | 9% |
| Dec. 2022 | 75% | 17% | 9% |
| Feb. 2023 | 79% | 12% | 10% |
| Apr. 2023 | 78% | 16% | 6% |
| June 2023 | 76% | 16% | 8% |
| Aug. 2023 | 79% | 15% | 7% |
| Dec. 2023 | 80% | 13% | 8% |
| Feb. 2024 | 83% | 12% | 5% |
| Apr. 2024 | 84% | 10% | 6% |
| June 2024 | 79% | 14% | 6% |
| Aug. 2024 | 88% | 9% | 3% |
| Poll | Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't know |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 2017 | 81% | 10% | 8% |
| June 2017 | 80% | 13% | 7% |
| October 2017 | 78% | 15% | 7% |
| February 2018 | 83% | 11% | 5% |
| June 2018 | 87% | 7% | 6% |
| October 2018 | 88% | 7% | 4% |
| February 2019 | 88% | 8% | 5% |
| June 2019 | 88% | 8% | 5% |
| October 2019 | 88% | 8% | 5% |
| February 2020 | 87% | 9% | 4% |
| April 2020 | 90% | 7% | 3% |
| June 2020 | 86% | 8% | 6% |
| October 2020 | 90% | 8% | 2% |
| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 5% | 1% | 16% |
| Approve somewhat | 12% | 15% | 27% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 14% | 26% | 22% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 19% | 15% | 15% |
| Disapprove strongly | 41% | 30% | 12% |
| Don't know | 9% | 13% | 9% |
| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Border security | 3% | 20% | 37% |
| Immigration | 4% | 12% | 24% |
| Inflation/rising prices | 11% | 11% | 9% |
| Political corruption/leadership | 20% | 13% | 2% |
| The economy | 6% | 7% | 5% |
| Gun control/gun violence | 9% | 5% | 1% |
| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 3% | 8% | 26% |
| Somewhat favorable | 10% | 23% | 36% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 12% | 10% | 19% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 7% | 15% | 7% |
| Very unfavorable | 65% | 33% | 5% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 4% | 11% | 6% |
Other references from the podcast:
Patrick Svitek, "Once hesitant, Texas Republicans have united behind Donald Trump once again," The Texas Tribune, 6 February 2024
Jim Henson, "Guest Column: Immigration, Perry and a Divided GOP," The Texas Tribune, 27 July 2011
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.