With the fourth special session adjourned sine die and the end of the year in sight, Jim Henson and Josh Blank consider how the major currents flowing through Texas politics in 2023 made manifest in a tumultuous year at the Texas Legislature.
Some polling results mentioned in the podcast
Ratings of the conservatism of Texas Republican elected officials
| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative enough | 0% | 0% | 39% |
| Too conservative | 0% | 0% | 15% |
| Not conservative enough | 0% | 0% | 35% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 0% | 0% | 11% |
| Category | Lean Republican | Not very strong Republican | Strong Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative enough | 30% | 38% | 47% |
| Too conservative | 15% | 21% | 11% |
| Not conservative enough | 46% | 23% | 35% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 10% | 18% | 7% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative enough | 40% | 45% | 32% |
| Too conservative | 31% | 6% | 4% |
| Not conservative enough | 15% | 40% | 61% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 15% | 9% | 3% |
Predominance of immigration and border security in Republican views of the most important issue facing Texas
| category | Democrats | Independents | Republicans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 2015 | 14% | 33% | 59% |
| June 2015 | 14% | 25% | 59% |
| Oct. 2015 | 12% | 32% | 57% |
| Feb. 2016 | 17% | 28% | 54% |
| June 2016 | 8% | 29% | 52% |
| Oct. 2016 | 7% | 32% | 56% |
| Feb. 2017 | 8% | 21% | 51% |
| June 2017 | 7% | 36% | 51% |
| Oct. 2017 | 12% | 30% | 44% |
| Feb. 2018 | 12% | 32% | 48% |
| June 2018 | 8% | 24% | 53% |
| Oct. 2018 | 9% | 29% | 62% |
| Feb. 2019 | 11% | 29% | 62% |
| June 2019 | 11% | 35% | 59% |
| Oct. 2019 | 12% | 28% | 57% |
| Feb. 2020 | 10% | 32% | 52% |
| Apr. 2020 | 1% | 8% | 28% |
| June 2020 | 3% | 14% | 29% |
| Oct. 2020 | 3% | 11% | 30% |
| Feb. 2021 | 2% | 23% | 46% |
| Mar. 2021 | 8% | 35% | 61% |
| Apr. 2021 | 6% | 35% | 65% |
| June 2021 | 6% | 35% | 59% |
| Aug. 2021 | 2% | 29% | 64% |
| Oct. 2021 | 2% | 26% | 68% |
| Feb. 2022 | 3% | 28% | 58% |
| Apr. 2022 | 4% | 31% | 61% |
| June 2022 | 2% | 19% | 45% |
| Aug. 2022 | 4% | 38% | 54% |
| Oct. 2022 | 4% | 35% | 61% |
| Dec. 2022 | 3% | 27% | 60% |
| Feb. 2023 | 5% | 32% | 59% |
| Apr. 2023 | 5% | 19% | 57% |
| June 2023 | 7% | 39% | 59% |
| Aug. 2023 | 5% | 38% | 59% |
| Oct. 2023 | 9% | 43% | 60% |
| Dec. 2023 | 7% | 32% | 61% |
| Feb. 2024 | 14% | 44% | 68% |
| Apr. 2024 | 13% | 40% | 63% |
| June 2024 | 9% | 34% | 61% |
| Aug. 2024 | 7% | 25% | 53% |
Trend in Republican approval of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
| Poll | Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't Know |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 2015 | 70% | 8% | 23% |
| February 2016 | 69% | 8% | 23% |
| June 2016 | 73% | 7% | 21% |
| October 2016 | 75% | 5% | 21% |
| February 2017 | 80% | 5% | 15% |
| June 2017 | 83% | 8% | 10% |
| October 2017 | 79% | 5% | 14% |
| February 2018 | 81% | 5% | 14% |
| June 2018 | 80% | 7% | 14% |
| October 2018 | 89% | 4% | 8% |
| February 2019 | 83% | 6% | 10% |
| June 2019 | 84% | 4% | 12% |
| October 2019 | 79% | 6% | 15% |
| February 2020 | 84% | 8% | 12% |
| April 2020 | 88% | 6% | 7% |
| June 2020 | 83% | 7% | 9% |
| October 2020 | 81% | 13% | 7% |
| February 2021 | 79% | 10% | 11% |
| March 2021 | 79% | 13% | 8% |
| April 2021 | 77% | 13% | 10% |
| June 2021 | 77% | 12% | 11% |
| August 2021 | 73% | 18% | 9% |
| October 2021 | 79% | 15% | 6% |
| February 2022 | 74% | 14% | 12% |
| April 2022 | 80% | 10% | 11% |
| June 2022 | 78% | 11% | 12% |
| August 2022 | 80% | 12% | 8% |
| October 2022 | 86% | 8% | 6% |
| December 2022 | 87% | 6% | 8% |
| February 2023 | 83% | 7% | 10% |
| April 2023 | 79% | 9% | 12% |
| June 2023 | 81% | 10% | 8% |
| August 2023 | 81% | 11% | 8% |
| October 2023 | 79% | 10% | 11% |
| December 2023 | 78% | 10% | 12% |
| February 2024 | 83% | 8% | 10% |
| April 2024 | 85% | 8% | 8% |
| June 2024 | 82% | 8% | 10% |
| August 2024 | 80% | 9% | 10% |
| Poll | Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't Know |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 2015 | 50% | 7% | 44% |
| February 2016 | 47% | 10% | 43% |
| June 2016 | 54% | 9% | 37% |
| October 2016 | 56% | 10% | 34% |
| February 2017 | 59% | 6% | 36% |
| June 2017 | 64% | 11% | 25% |
| October 2017 | 62% | 9% | 30% |
| February 2018 | 67% | 7% | 26% |
| June 2018 | 64% | 7% | 26% |
| October 2018 | 77% | 6% | 17% |
| February 2019 | 75% | 6% | 19% |
| June 2019 | 68% | 6% | 25% |
| October 2019 | 67% | 9% | 23% |
| February 2020 | 72% | 9% | 20% |
| April 2020 | 70% | 10% | 20% |
| June 2020 | 72% | 8% | 20% |
| October 2020 | 66% | 10% | 24% |
| February 2021 | 65% | 11% | 24% |
| March 2021 | 64% | 11% | 26% |
| April 2021 | 63% | 10% | 27% |
| June 2021 | 65% | 7% | 28% |
| August 2021 | 61% | 11% | 28% |
| October 2021 | 67% | 9% | 25% |
| February 2022 | 57% | 10% | 33% |
| April 2022 | 66% | 8% | 27% |
| June 2022 | 62% | 12% | 25% |
| August 2022 | 69% | 10% | 22% |
| October 2022 | 70% | 6% | 25% |
| December 2022 | 77% | 6% | 16% |
| February 2023 | 70% | 8% | 22% |
| April 2023 | 72% | 9% | 20% |
| June 2023 | 66% | 7% | 27% |
| August 2023 | 62% | 11% | 27% |
| October 2023 | 63% | 11% | 25% |
| December 2023 | 63% | 10% | 27% |
| February 2024 | 66% | 10% | 24% |
| April 2024 | 70% | 7% | 22% |
| June 2024 | 65% | 8% | 26% |
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.