Beto O'Rourke
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Second Reading Podcast: Economic concerns pressure Trump's rating in Texas, and approaches to early election polling
| 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
| By: James Henson, Joshua BlankThe 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
| By: Jim Henson, Joshua BlankWhatever 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.
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Some Notes on the Political Geography of the 2022 Election in Texas
| By: Jim Henson, Joshua BlankA 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.
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Second Reading Podcast: Beneath the latest Republican sweep in Texas
| By: Texas Politics Project -
Second Reading Podcast: A look at early voting and other other tea leaves in the final week of the 2022 election
| By: Texas Politics Project -
Texas 2022 Gubernatorial Poll Tracker
| By: Texas Politics ProjectNovember 2: Updated with University of Houston/Hobby School poll, which found Abbott leading O'Rourke 53%-40% among likely voters.
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Making sense of electoral politics in Texas as the 2022 election reaches its crescendo
| By: Jim Henson, Joshua BlankFor all the upheaval in the state over the last two years – month after month of screaming and fighting over COVID measures (amidst tens of thousands of COVID-related deaths), persistent threats to democratic institutions that broke into open violence on January 6 and have simmered ever since, the power outage that killed hundreds and brought discomfort and suffering to millions in Texas, the mass killing of children at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, the overturning of Roe v Wade and the resulting deterioration of health care and autonomy for millions of Texas women – the Texas electorate as likely constituted seem poised to vote for continuity rather than change. This situation is the result of long-standing, and only slowly changing, characteristics of the Texas political system being reinforced by a strong national dynamic favoring Republicans.
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Second Reading Podcast: A look at results of the October 2022 University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll
| By: Texas Politics Project