Texans Divided on GOP Legislative Priorities, Remain Concerned about Prices in New University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll
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A new University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll finds Texas voters broadly aligned with the overall agenda outlined by the governor, legislative leaders, and lawmakers, though there are stark, if familiar, differences between Republicans and Democrats over which issues lawmakers should prioritize in the ongoing legislative session. Overall, Texans attach the most importance to the reliability of the electric grid, high consumer prices, and the state’s water supply, followed closely by the perennial issue of property taxes.
The poll was conducted February 14-24 among 1200 self-declared registered voters in Texas. The data was collected by YouGov over the internet using a questionairre created by the Texas Politics Project. The margin of error: +/- 2.83% (3.28% adjusted for weighting) unless otherwise noted
Asked to evaluate a list of 15 subjects being prominently discussed by political leaders, more than half of Texas voters deemed all but three of the proposals either “extremely” or “very” important. The most widely prioritized proposals among Texas voters, deemed either “extremely” or “very” important for the legislature to prioritize, were:
“Increasing access to health care” just missed the three-quarters mark (74%), though the share who judged it “extremely important,” 47%, ranked third highest, just behind grid reliability and prices (51% rated both “extremely important.”)
Fewer than half of Texas voters assigned the same degree of importance to three policy areas:
Republican leaders have not prioritized addressing or amending the state’s abortion laws since banning virtually all access to the procedure in 2021. Creating a school choice program has been a top priority of Republican leadership going back (at least) to the legislature’s high-profile failure to enact a policy amidst vicious GOP infighting during the 2023 session and the subsequent Republican primary elections in 2024. While Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has been explicit in his support for more stringent regulation of THC products, only 17% of voters said this is “extremely important” for the legislature to address, lower than any of the other 14 issues assessed.
Republican voters’ top priorities (those deemed either “extremely” or “very” important) included cutting property taxes, a top priority of the state leadership, but otherwise differed from the overall preferences of Texans. They were:
The top three responses among Republican voters each align with items in Gov. Greg Abbott’s emergency proclamation, which allowed lawmakers to fast track proposals in the legislative process. Concern about state infrastructure ranks close behind these top-priority issues among Republicans, with 82% ranking improving the reliability of the state’s electric grid as extremely (45%) or very (38%) important priorities; 81% saying the same about improving the reliability of the state’s water supply (40%/41%); and 78% saying the same about lowering the cost of housing (35%/33%).
Democratic voters’ top three priorities differed substantially from those of Republicans:
- “Increase access to health care” (89%; 68% extremely important)
- “Improve the reliability of the state’s energy grid” (89%; 61% extremely)
- “Increase funding for the public education system” (88%; 59% extremely)
- “Lower the cost of everyday goods and services” (82%, 55% extremely)
The bipartisan concern about consumer costs suggests that the economic worries that figured prominently in the 2024 election remain top of mind for many voters of both parties, and a factor in state politics as the legislative session unfolds – and with a statewide election in 2026 lurking just around the corner. These concerns were evident in several poll results, especially levels of concern about specific economic issues.
Voters report paying scant attention to the legislature so far, though this closely follows a historical pattern. Only 8% reported following the legislature “extremely closely” in February despite the ongoing leadership battles leading up to, and beginning the session, with another 37% following the legislature “somewhat closely.” More than half reported following “not very closely” (40%) or “not at all closely” (15%). Not surprisingly then, only 14% of voters said that they had heard “a lot” about the selection of a new speaker, similar to the share who had heard “a lot” about Governor Abbott’s emergency items (15%) and/or Lieutenant Governor Patrick’s legislative priorities (12%).
Property Taxes
The share of Texas voters who say that property taxes have a “major impact” on their finances increased by ten percentage points between February 2023 and February 2025, from 58% to 68% — despite persistent efforts to address these costs repeatedly over the last decade. The most recent poll found 18% of voters saying that property taxes had only a minor impact, and 14% reporting “no impact.”
While the share reporting a “major impact” on their personal finances as a result of the state’s sales tax was smaller, 51%, that share also marked a 10-percentage-point increase from two years earlier. The sales tax is the state’s largest single source of revenue. There has been no prominent discussion about the possibility of reducing the state’s sales taxes during the current session; and in fact, in 2019, the state’s leadership briefly lent public support to the concept of raising the state’s sales tax by 1 percentage point to offset property tax reduction, though the proposal died quickly amidst bipartisan criticism.
This jump in the perceived impact of property taxes is accompanied by widespread sentiment that legislative efforts to reduce property taxes have not had a large impact on Texas voters’ personal finances. The poll included the following item: “As you probably know, the Texas Legislature has made efforts to reduce property tax bills in prior legislative sessions. How much impact would you say these efforts have had on your personal finances?” Only a quarter (25%) reported a major impact; 35% reported a “minor impact,” while 27% said these efforts had no impact and 13% expressed no opinion.
The coexistence of widespread concern about property taxes with a lack of perceived impact from past legislative efforts sets the stage for new attempts by state leaders and the Legislature to provide property tax cuts that legislators hope have bipartisan appeal — and a noticeable effect on the pocketbooks of voters (though they may be “helped” by a cooling real estate market). As Republican legislators and state leaders yet again lean hard into the effort to cut property taxes further, large shares of both Republican (76%) and Democratic (62%) voters report that property taxes have a “major impact” on their finances.
In a follow up question, a larger share of Democrats (27%) than Republicans (18%) say that sales taxes have the “biggest” impact on their finances; but the plurality of Democrats (47%) joined a clear majority of Republicans (60%) in agreeing that property taxes have the biggest impact on their finances.
Education
As Texas legislators and the state’s leadership consider proposals to increase teacher pay while appearing to be on the cusp of pushing through a dramatic increase in public subsidies to parents to fund private educational costs, the February poll finds Texas voters attaching much more importance to teacher pay and school financing than to creating a voucher or school choice program.
The public opinion context for the reprise of the 2023 session’s inconclusive cage match over educational savings accounts (ESAs) and public school funding, including teacher pay raises, illustrates the cross-currents that have made political agreement on these issues so difficult. There are evident differences between the priorities of Republican leaders who have doubled down on keeping ESAs the centerpiece of their education agenda, and Texas voters – who continue to express openness to the ideas of school choice advocates, but just as consistently place much lower priority on the issue, either in the context of other concerns (e.g. prices, immigration, the electric grid, etc.), but also in the context of other, potential education priorities.
In an open-ended item asking voters what issue they think the legislature should prioritize, only 2% of voters offered educational savings accounts, vouchers, or school choice as the legislature’s top priority, significantly less than expressed a desire for the legislature to prioritize some other aspect of the public education system (12% of all voters).
Asked more specifically about the potential public education agenda before the legislature, 20% of voters said it was “extremely important” for the legislature to address “Educational savings account (ESA), voucher, or other ‘school choice’ legislation” during the current legislative session, fewer than said the same about 9 other priorities. “Expanding the number of charter schools" (15%) was the only proposal to receive a lower priority assessment.
As in prior years, “school safety” topped the list, with 63% saying this should be an extremely important priority, followed by curriculum content (49%), teacher pay and retention (46%), public school financing (42%), parental rights (42%), public school library materials (35%), facilities and school infrastructure additions or improvements (34%), and the role of religion in public schools (21%).
While Republican voters prioritize the establishment of a school choice program significantly more than do Democrats, it’s still a lower priority for those voters than legislative attention might lead one to expect. Only 22% of GOP voters said that establishing an ESA program is an “extremely important” education priority for the legislature compared to 17% of Democrats (however, 29% of Republicans say it is “very important” compared to only 17% of Democrats). And when asked what should be the top priority, 8% of Republicans said the establishment of an ESA program (similar to prior polling), less than said the same about five other issues: school safety (28%); curriculum content (21%); teacher pay and retention (15%); parental rights (11%); and public school financing (9%).
Not surprisingly then, only 5% of voters overall said that vouchers should be the legislature’s top priority, significantly behind school safety (31%); teacher pay and retention (19%); curriculum (16%); and public school financing (13%).
Within this broader context, asked whether they “support or oppose using state funds to establish an educational savings account (ESA), voucher, or other “school choice” program in Texas?” 46% of voters expressed support with 34% opposed. Among Republican voters 58% expressed support with 22% in opposition, while among Democrats 50% were opposed with 34% supportive of establishing a school choice program.
However, the priority data make clear that most voters’ public education attitudes focus on activities in and financing of the current public education system, with only 7% of voters rating that system as “excellent,” a plurality rating it “good” (44%), and another 37% rating public education in Texas as either “not very good” (28%) or “terrible” (9%). These results are in line with historical trends.
While Republicans hold slightly more positive views of the system than Democrats, those differences are not overwhelming.
Views of Trump and his administration
Support for Donald Trump remained strong in Texas in the early weeks of his second administration, with the president receiving high marks from Texas voters in both their personal feelings toward the former and now current president and in their approval of the job he’s done so far. There are, however, apparent warning signs in voters' views of some of the various economic components of Trump’s second-term agenda.
In the context of the whirlwind first few weeks of the second Trump presidency, 52% of Texas voters approved of the job the president was doing, tied for the highest approval rating in his first term, in June 2019; and only the second time he received majority approval in the 14 instances in which it has been measured in Texas. With only 38% disapproving in the latest poll, Trump’s net job approval rating of +14 is the strongest net approval rating he has received in Texas.
His personal favorability ratings were comparably high, with 53% viewing him favorably and 41% unfavorably, producing a net +12 favorability rating. Over 26 surveys going back to November 2015, the last two surveys, December 2024 and February of this year, produced the highest net favorability ratings for Trump in Texas by a wide margin.
These surges are fueled mainly by his sky-high popularity among Texas Republicans, 92% of whom viewed him favorably – six percentage points higher than in October 2024, on the eve of his election to another term – with only 6% holding unfavorable views. Similarly, 92% of GOP voters approved of his job performance, while only 4% disapproved – also a high water mark during Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party, statistically tied with his results in December of last year (93%) after his election, but before assuming office.
Texas Democrats’ views of Trump remain deeply negative, despite speculation during the election that Trump may have swayed some Democrats towards a more favorable view. As of February, however, 82% of Democrats disapprove of the job Trump is doing (72% strongly disapproving), while 86% hold an unfavorable view (80% very unfavorable).
Of course, it is possible that Trump has converted some Democrats who no longer identify with the party — but the stability of partisanship in Texas over time makes this somewhat unlikely. While the share of Texas voters identifying as Democrats is at a near low when looked at over the last 10 years, the total range in variation is only 7 points, between 38% and 45% of all voters. On the back of sweeping victories, Republican identification is at an all-time high when compared to the last 10 years, at 52% of all voters, but again, only ranging between 42% and 52%, and being no lower than 47% since at least October of 2023.
The poll also tested voters’ views of prominent Trump administration officials, with none more prominent in the early weeks of the administration than Elon Musk. Overall, 48% of voters said they viewed Musk favorably compared to 41% who viewed him unfavorably. While net positive, the share holding a favorable view of Musk dropped 6 points since December, while unfavorable views increased 11 points over the same period. Republican views remain unchanged, (80% favorable in December, 82% favorable in February), while views of Musk among Democrats have cratered, from a poor 27% favorable, 59% unfavorable in December to only 11% favorable and 83% unfavorable in February (including 71% who hold a “very unfavorable” view).
Looking at other, less prominent officials in the current government, Vice President J.D. Vance was viewed favorably by 48% of Texas voters and unfavorably by 36%; Secretary of State Marco Rubio was viewed favorably by 38% and unfavorably by 31%; while Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was viewed favorably by 43% and unfavorably by 34%.
And while the beginning of Trump’s second term brings with it a lot of positive energy, primarily from the state’s GOP voters, Texans’ specific concerns about the economy may be at odds with the administration’s emerging priorities.
Economic Discontents
As during the entirety of the campaign which resulted in his election, Texans’ economic concerns are most acute around rising prices: 73% are “very concerned” about “the price of food and consumer goods,” and more than half of Texas voters expressed the same level of concern about the cost of healthcare (68%), the cost of housing (60%), and the price of gasoline and energy (52%). All of these shares are slightly higher than in December. Concerns about prices continue to preoccupy Texas voters as economic reports show the persistence of high costs while most economic experts (though there are dissenters) expect Trump’s threatened tariff increases to result in higher prices.
Most Texas voters seem to be following the experts, at least in their estimation of the short run. Asked about the impact of tariffs on prices, 68% of Texas voters, including 48% of Republicans (a plurality), expect higher prices as a result of Trump’s efforts. However, when asked to think about the long term impact on the U.S. economy, a majority of Republican voters, 67%, think that tariffs will end up helping the U.S. economy, while a plurality of voters overall, 44%, think these efforts will generally hurt the U.S. economy.
As Congress struggles to pass a budget – with the Republican Congressional delegation struggling to resolve Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government while renewing the popular, but expensive, 2017 tax cuts from his first term that are set to expire without government action – 47% were “extremely concerned” about the national debt and 46% about the federal budget deficit. Republicans were significantly more concerned about each of these fiscal issues than Democrats.
Given the power that partisanship exerts on people’s evaluations of the direction of the country and the state of the national economy (if not the state economy and people’s own personal financial situation), it should be unsurprising to see movement in national evaluations as the party in power changes hands at the national level. It’s in this context that the poll finds a degree of improvement in assessments of the national economy, as well as the first time in over a decade that more Texans said that the country is headed in the right direction (48%) than said it is on the wrong track (43%).
The near majority who said the U.S. is headed in the right direction is the highest rating (and highest net positive rating) since the poll’s launch in 2008 — and a significant shift from just December of last year, when 56% of voters said the country was on the wrong track and only 31% said that we’re headed in the right direction.
This uptick in optimism notwithstanding, assessments of the national economy remain net negative and inflected by partisanship, with more voters saying the economy is worse compared to last year (39%) than say it’s better (32%). But the latest poll provided evidence of big shifts despite the fact that the point of comparison (compared to last year) hasn’t changed much. In February polling, 50% of Republicans rated the national economy as better than last year, a 34 point increase from December, when only 16% offered such optimism. Democrats, too, react strongly to a change in the occupant of the White House, with only 22% saying that the economy was worse off in December, but 67% saying the same in February.
Asked about the Texas economy, 28% say that Texas is doing better compared to last year, while 32% say the state’s economy is worse off. These evaluations remain relatively static compared to most of 2024, and do not appear to have been subject to shifts in opinions similar to those towards the national economy.
Asked to rate their own, personal economic situation, 24% of Texans said that they’re doing better than last year, while 33% said that they’re doing worse. The share of Texans saying that they’re worse off is the lowest such rating since October 2021 polling, when only 20% said they were worse off (with the low before that coming in February 2020 (20% worse off, 31% better off), the last survey before the effects of the global pandemic took hold.
So while the new administration appears to have brought with it a renewed economic outlook for most Texans — at least as regards the national economy — local economic evaluations remain stagnant amidst continued concerns about prices and the cost of living, and somewhat widespread expectations that one of the Trump administration's primary policy efforts, tariffs, is going to increase the severity of the problem.
Immigration
A plurality of voters, 39%, say that the number of migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border is “a crisis,” with another 24% labeling the issue “a very serious problem, but not a crisis.” The share of Texans labeling the issue a “crisis” or a “very serious problem” declined from 71% in February of 2024 to 63%, with Democratic concern dropping from 57% labeling the number of border crossings a crisis (20%) or a very serious problem (37%) in February of last year to 39% today (10%/29%). Among Republicans, overall concern hasn’t declined significantly, only the intensity of that concern, with 64% labeling the number of crossings a “crisis” in February of this year, compared to 74% a year ago — however, the share rating the issue “a very serious problem” increased from 11% in February 2023 to 20% today.
The Trump’s administration's nascent, mass deportation efforts are likely to find a welcome audience among the GOP base in Texas. In response to an oft-repeated question on the UT/TxPP poll, 87% agree with the concept of deporting all undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States immediately (50% strongly agree). Overall, 55% of Texas voters agree with the concept of mass deportations, while 37% disagreed.
While the UT/TxPP poll has repeatedly found support for the concept of mass deportations, the latest results illustrate that in addition to the oft-cited logistical obstacles to mass deportations, there might also be political constraints, even among voters who are generally supportive of restrictive, if not anti-immigrant, policies.
Asked more specifically about the practical implications of mass deportation efforts, a majority of Texas voters opposed each of six, specific instances being discussed about the boundaries of deportation policies. A majority, 57%, opposed “deporting immigrants who were allowed into the U.S. because of political persecution or safety concerns in their home countries”; 60% opposed “arresting people who are in the country illegally while they are at church”; 61% opposed “arresting people who are in the country illegally while they are at a hospital”; 68% opposed “arresting children who are in the country illegally while they are at school”; and 69% each opposed “separating children from their parents when the parents are detained for entering the country illegally” and “deporting young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children, completed high school or military service, and have not been convicted of a violent crime.”
While Republican voters were more open to some of these efforts (deporting people who had been admitted under the country’s asylum laws, 48% support, 40% oppose; arresting people who are in the country illegally while they are at a hospital, 47% support, 43% oppose; and arresting people while they are at church, 47% support, 42% oppose), majorities of Republican voters expressed opposition to arresting undocumented children at schools (51%), separating children from their parents (52%), and deporting young people brought to the country as children who have completed high school, college, and/or military service without any kind of criminal record (55%).
Regarding one of the most institutionally fundamental changes to U.S. immigration law that the new administration is trying to implement, a plurality of voters, 48%, said that they oppose repealing the portion of the 14th amendment that allows for children born in the U.S. to be U.S. citizens regardless of the legal status of their parents, with 36% in favor of repealing this part of the 14th amendment. Overall, the share in support of a change to the U.S. constitution tightening citizenship requirements actually scores lower than when the question was asked 10 years ago in October 2015 polling, when a plurality, 48%, supported such a change, with 39% in opposition.
A majority of Republicans support the repeal of this part of the 14th Amendment (59%), but as with overall attitudes, the poll found a decline from 10 years ago, when 66% supported this constitutional change. Only 10% of Democrats supported repealing this part of the 14th, an 18 point decline from 2015; while among Hispanics, the share dropped from 38% to 29%, with opposition remaining relatively static.
Finally, as Texas remains at the forefront of the immigration debate given its 1,200-plus mile border with Mexico and a state government occupied, if not preoccupied, with border security, a plurality of Texas voters, 44%, and a majority of Republican voters, 63%, said that the federal government should “fully reimburse Texas” for money spent on border enforcement efforts during the previous presidential administration — efforts are ongoing.
Discrimination/DEI
Amidst national and state Republicans’ largely successful effort to mobilize GOP voters and elected officials in a crusade against various anti-discrimination and civil rights policies and practices under the anti-DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) banner, most Texans said that they have heard either a lot (45%) or some (34%) about DEI policies at businesses and state institutions. Despite the overall trajectory of policy aiming to eradicate anything that can conceivably be labeled “DEI” at both the federal and state level, a slightly larger share of Texas voters said that they had a positive view of DEI programs (41%) than said they had a negative view (38%), with about a fifth (21%) having no opinion. While there is no apparent consensus in public attitudes on the current anti-DEI efforts, it has become a more well-known issue: The share of voters with both positive and negative views increased since the last time the question was asked in April 2023 polling (35% positive; 32% negative; 33% no opinion).
Slightly more than two-thirds of Democratic voters (67%) said that they held a positive view of DEI efforts; a majority of Republicans (59%) held negative views. While a plurality of white voters hold negative views towards DEI programs (48%), a plurality of Hispanic (41%) and majority of black voters (55%) hold positive views. Given the demographic makeup of the state then, it’s not surprising to find majorities of voters under 30 (54%) and between 30 and 44 (51%) holding positive views of DEI programs, while a plurality of voters 45-64 (42%) and majority of voters over 65 (58%) hold negative views.
Amidst efforts by Republican lawmakers at the state and national level to roll back anti-discrimination policies in the private and public sectors, the poll explored Texas voters' beliefs about the amount of discrimination faced by different groups in the U.S. A plurality of voters, 41%, said that transgender people face “a lot of discrimination” in the U.S. today, more than said the same about any other group. Republicans were more likely to say that Christians (25%) and Jews (24%) face a lot of discrimination, followed by whites (20%) and transgender people (20%). In contrast, 70% of Democrats said that transgender people face a lot of discrimination in the U.S., with 55% saying the same about African Americans and gays and lesbians, respectively.
Asked who currently faces the most discrimination in the U.S., a plurality, 25%, said transgender people, followed by African Americans (21%) and Jews (11%), with no other group breaking 10%. Among Republicans, Jews were seen as the most discriminated against group (19%), followed by African Americans (16%), Christians (15%), transgender people (14%), and whites (11%) — with the remaining groups receiving less than 10%. Among Democrats, 40% say transgender people face the most discrimination, followed by African Americans (21%), and jews (11%).
Contextualizing some of the focus on DEI efforts at the federal and state level, a plurality of Texas voters, 37%, say that the state’s growing racial and ethnic diversity is a cause for optimism, while 30% say it is a cause for concern (33% are unable to offer an opinion). Among Democrats, a near majority, 49%, see increasing diversity as a cause for optimism, while a plurality of Republicans, 32%, say it is a cause for concern, with 28% saying it is a cause for optimism, and 39% declining to offer an opinion.
Views of state and local government
Asked to evaluate the character of state and local government, voters expressed more positive evaluations of their local governments than they did of the state government.
While Texas voters were nearly split in their beliefs about whether state government is mostly honest (38%) or mostly dishonest (34%), 50% of voters said that their local government is mostly honest compared to 27% who said their local government is mostly dishonest.
Despite efforts to paint local government as a major cause of Texans’ tax concerns, more Texans said that state government is careless with people’s tax dollars (38%) than said it is careful (35%); while more Texans said their local governments are careful with tax dollars (43%) than said they are careless (35%).
Finally, Texans were more likely to say that both state and local governments address the needs of their respective constituents than to say that they ignore them. But again, local government gets more favorable reviews from voters, with 48% of voters saying that they mostly address the needs of residents (compared to 41% saying the same about the state); and only 32% saying that local government ignores the needs of its citizens, compared to 38% who said the same about the state.
The patterns in these results remain largely unchanged over time, with the same, or a similar set of questions asked in 2012, 2017, 2022, and 2023.
Job approval ratings
For more discussion of key results in the poll: Joshua Blank and Daron Shaw talk about the results from the February poll in the latest Second Reading podcast.
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