Blog
A Compilation of Texas Republican public opinion as the Republican Party of Texas convenes in Houston
As the Republican Party of Texas holds its election-year convention in Houston, scheduled to last through Saturday, we’ve compiled a selection of public opinion results among Republicans from our extensive polling data archive. We’ve not attempted any analysis here, though there is plenty elsewhere in our blog on the dynamics of public opinion in the Texas GOP. Rather, we’ve pulled out Republican subtotals on items that likely seem to provide relevant context for the convention proceedings and the political positioning taking place in and around the gathering.
John Cornyn’s effort to provide GOP with political cover on gun violence is a reminder that he is the last Bush Republican standing in Texas
With Ken Paxton's defeat of George P. Bush, Cornyn remains the last artifact of Bush era Texas Republicanism — if not a member of the dynasty by blood, he may well nevertheless be the last elected Bushie still standing.
Texas public opinion data points as congressional hearings on the January 6, 2021 attack of the U.S. Capitol begin
The House Select Committee investigating the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 kicked off a series of televised public hearings Thursday night with a prime time event intended to reignite interest in the subject of their work and provide some teasers of what’s yet to come in future public hearings. Data in the Texas Politics Project polling archive provides some context for how the resumed discussion of January 6 and related matters are likely to land among different groups of Texas voters.
Second Reading Podcast: A conversation with the Los Angeles Times' Molly Hennessy-Fiske about her reporting from Texas
In a new Second Reading Podcast, Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Houston Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times, talks with Jim Henson about her recent reporting from Texas, including her embed with a milita group on the Texas-Mexico border and coverage of the Uvalde mass shooting and its aftermath.
Second Reading Podcast: Public opinion and politics in Texas in the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting
In a new Second Reading Podcast, Jim Henson and Josh Blank discuss public opinion about guns in Texas, and the implication for politics in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Uvalde.
Five Aspects of Texas Public Opinion on Mass Shootings, Guns, Gun Control, and the state’s rightward shift in the wake of the Uvalde Tragedy
In the aftermath of a tragedy as horrific as the one in Uvalde, Texas this week, many will wonder aloud whether Texas, and Texans, will have a reckoning with guns, its gun culture, and/or the recent laws that have made it increasingly easier to buy and own a gun in Texas?
Why immigration and border security endure as the central axis of Texas Republican politics
For the last decade, no issues have more consistently occupied the consciousness of Texas Republican voters than immigration and border security. Evidence provided by multiple polls, considered in the context of politics and policies pursued by a generation of Texas Republican leadership, illustrates how nativism has become a major animating force in Republican politics in the state. While the term “nativism” carries negative connotations, nearly a decade of public polling data illustrate the pervasiveness of such attitudes among Republican voters, even if the term is likely to be hotly refuted by those whose attitudes and (in the case of public figures) rhetoric and policies make the description demonstrably apt.
Second Reading Podcast: On the emerging politics of public education in Texas (and elsewhere)
In a new Second Reading Podcast, Jim Henson and Josh Blank talk about public education attitudes captured in the latest UT/Texas Politics Project Poll in the context of recent school board elections and Gov. Greg Abbott's signals about private school vouchers.
A round-up of results in the April 2022 UT/Texas Politics Project Poll related to the 2022 Texas election
The majority of the April University of Texas / Texas Politics Project poll focused on the many issues currently facing the state and the country, many of which we expect to continue being a large part of the public discussion in the lead-up to the November elections. Taking into account that the general election remians several months in the future, the items in the poll related to the election were designed to assess attitudes toward candidates in the the most prominent upcoming Texas run-offs, and eventually, in the general election. We've compiled some results to these items with a particular emphasis on the overall views and those among key groups of voters, whether in the upcoming general (e.g. independents, Hispanics, suburban voters), or in the upcoming primary run-offs (e.g. committed partisans, ideologues, and others).
New UT/Texas Politics Project Poll: Texans’ attitudes on population growth and the state’s future take a negative turn amidst economic troubles
In an election year marked by economic disruption, the unprecedented direction of state resources and public attention to the Texas-Mexico border, and signs of moving on from the fight against COVID-19, Texans’ legendary bullishness about the future of the state has turned bearish, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll.