Beto O'Rourke

• Making sense of electoral politics in Texas as the 2022 election reaches its crescendo

  October 31, 2022 | By: Jim Henson, Joshua Blank

  For 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.

• Second Reading Podcast: A look at results of the October 2022 University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll

  October 24, 2022 | By: Texas Politics Project

• With Texans focused on the border and the economy, Abbott leads O’Rourke 54%-43% among likely voters in new University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll

  October 21, 2022 | By: Jim Henson, Joshua Blank

  With in-person early voting set to begin in Texas on October 24, the latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll finds Gov. Greg Abbott leading Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke in the gubernatorial race, 54%-43%, among Texans likely to vote in the 2022 election. While more than half of Republican voters say immigration and border security is the most important issue area informing their vote, Democratic voters’ attention is divided among a list of several issues, topped by abortion.

• Beto O'Rourke Favorability (October 2022)

  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 Beto O'Rourke."

• Beto O'Rourke Favorability Among Likely Voters (October 2022)

  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 Beto O'Rourke.". Likely voters were defined as those respondents who indicated that they have voted in every election in the past 2-3 years in response to Q2; or those respondents who rated their likelihood to vote in the November elections on a 10-point scale as a 9 or a 10 in response to Q3B.

• Reason for Supporting Greg Abbott (October 2022)

  Respondents were asked, "[ASK IF Q18A|Q18B == 1] You said that in a general election between Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke that you would vote for Greg Abbott. Which of the following better describes your vote choice:". Likely voters were defined as those respondents who indicated that they have voted in every election in the past 2-3 years in response to Q2; or those respondents who rated their likelihood to vote in the November eletions on a 10-point scale as a 9 or a 10 in response to Q3B.

• Reason for Supporting Beto O'Rourke (October 2022)

  Respondents were asked, "[ASK IF Q18A|Q18B == 2] You said that in a general election between Beto O’Rourke and Greg Abbott that you would vote for Beto O’Rourke. Which of the following better describes your vote choice:". Likely voters were defined as those respondents who indicated that they have voted in every election in the past 2-3 years in response to Q2; or those respondents who rated their likelihood to vote in the November eletions on a 10-point scale as a 9 or a 10 in response to Q3B.

• 2022 Gubernatorial Vote Intention (October 2022)

  Respondents were asked, "If the 2022 general election for Governor were held today, would you vote for [RANDOMIZE “the Republican Greg Abbott”, “the Democrat Beto O’Rourke”, “the Libertarian Mark Tippets”, “the Green Party candidate Delilah Barrios”] the Republican Greg Abbott, the Democrat Beto O’Rourke, the Libertarian Mark Tippets, the Green Party candidate Delilah Barrios, someone else, or haven’t you thought about it enough to have an opinion? [RANDOMIZE 1-4]". Respondents who said that they hadn’t thought enough about the election to have an opinion were asked a follow-up question: “If you had to make a choice, who would you choose?” Responses to this item were folded into those who initially indicated a preference. Likely voters were defined as those respondents who indicated that they have voted in every election in the past 2-3 years in response to Q2; or those respondents who rated their likelihood to vote in the November eletions on a 10-point scale as a 9 or a 10 in response to Q3B.

• Where are key groups in the Texas electorate on 2022 campaign issues?

  October 03, 2022 | By: Jim Henson, Joshua Blank

  In this election cycle in Texas, suburbanites, self-described ideological moderates, Hispanics, and political independents have emerged as important to the final electoral outcome and thus, to the campaigns because of their relative size and the fact that, as we show below, each includes substantial numbers of members of both parties. One consequence of this combination of size and partisan mixture is that even if targeted messages fail to persuade voters to cross party lines, these messages still have the effect of resonating with a campaign's own voters, amplifying the overall effort to increase their turnout.

• Public Opinion Context for the One and Only Texas Gubernatorial Debate

  September 30, 2022 | By: Jim Henson, Joshua Blank

  The gubernatorial debate between incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto ORourke in McAllen, Texas is likely to be the only time the two candidates will share a stage in the 2022 campaign. The University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll has been exploring Texas attitudes related to the candidates and the broader context of the election over the last year, and got into extensive detail in our most recent poll, which was conducted from August 26-September 6. To provide context for tonight’s debate, we’ve gathered several results that illustrate how Texans view each of the candidates, their comparative levels of trust on the major issues emerging in the campaign, and more. This post is built for browsing