Beto O'Rourke

What the 2018 election in Texas can and can’t tell us about 2026

June 12, 2026 | By: James Henson, Joshua Blank

How similar is the 2026 election environment in Texas to 2018, the last statewide election in which Democrats were able to gain meaningful ground on Texas Republicans’ control of the Texas Legislature, and came within striking distance of winning some statewide races? The Texas Politics Project's deep archive of public opinion data allows us to make useful comparisons of public attitudes toward candidates and conditions in 2018 and 2026.

Second Reading: Both Parties Gear Up for Texas Legislative Races + the Long Shadow of 2018

June 04, 2026 | By:

After a week in which Texas Republicans circled the wagons for legislative elections and national Democrats announced #txlege targets, James Henson and Joshua Blank look at the landscape for legislative races, and compare differences and similarities in public opinion in 2018 and 2026.

Second Reading Podcast: Economic concerns pressure Trump's rating in Texas, and approaches to early election polling

September 19, 2025 | By:

James Henson and Joshua Blank look at the arc of the President's standing in Texas and how his ratings intersect persistent economic concerns in the state. Plus, they consider approaches to (very) early polling in the 2026 U.S. Senate race.

Texas voters give mixed reviews to the special session agenda while worries about the economy and prices persist in latest UT/Texas Politics Project Poll

September 08, 2025 | By: James Henson, Joshua Blank

The August 2025 University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll finds Texas voters in broad agreement with the call to respond to issues related to flooding and more reductions in property taxes, but show significant partisan divisions in response to the drawing of new maps and most other issues on the special session agenda – and finds voters still worried about the economy.

Beto O'Rourke Favorability (August 2025)

Respondents were asked, "Please tell us whether you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, neither favorable nor unfavorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable opinion of each of the following: Beto O'Rourke."

Grid politics haven’t affected Texas elections, but voters’ doubts about reliability may be more resilient than the grid itself

August 21, 2024 | By: Jim Henson, Joshua Blank

Whatever the mix of factors — a lack of awareness of the specifics of what the legislature has tried to do, the extreme complexity of the issues involved, or a general lack of trust in political institutions — polling throughout the two sessions has shown a consistent a lack of confidence in what the state’s political leadership is doing to increase the reliability and resilience of the grid.

Some Notes on the Political Geography of the 2022 Election in Texas

November 29, 2022 | By: Jim Henson, Joshua Blank

A look at the geography beneath the status-quo-preserving results of the 2022 Texas election reveal gradual patterns of change that both confirm and confound the received knowledge about the state’s most recent elections and the longer-run trajectory of the state. Looking at the distribution of the vote between the two major parties from among urban, suburban, and rural counties* reveals patterns that are more subtle than the Republican tromping of Democrats in statewide and legislative races might initially suggest.