Greg Abbott

• Second Reading: Change vs. more of the same

  August 28, 2025 | By: James Henson
  Ross Ramsey, co-founder and former executive editor of The Texas Tribune, joins James Henson and Joshua Blank to assess to consider the nature and durability of changes in Texas politics and institutions evident during the 89th Texas Legislature

• Second Reading: Timing is everything

  August 14, 2025 | By: Texas Politics Project
  James Henson and Joshua Blank discuss the uncertainty around Texas House Democrats' quorum break over mid-decade redistricting, and what the ensuing politics reveal about Texas politics.

• Second Reading: The tricky politics of agenda management as the Texas Legislature reluctantly returns for a special session

  July 17, 2025 | By: James Henson
  With adopting the new Congressional maps ordered by Donald Trump and response to the July 4 floods at the top of the agenda, James Henson and Joshua Blank talk about the politics of agenda management as the Texas Legislature prepares to return to the Capitol next week for a politically-fraught special session.

• Second Reading Podcast: Texans' views of the 89th Texas Legislature in the June 2025 UT/Texas Politics Project Poll

  July 09, 2025 | By:
  In a webinar hosted June 26 by the Professional Advocacy Association of Texas, James Henson and Johsua Blank look at attitudes on issues and actors in the regular session of the 89th Texas Legislature in a special video edition of the podcast.

• Second Reading Podcast: Interpreting Trump's Standing in Texas in the New UT/Texas Politics Project Poll

  June 26, 2025 | By:
  The UT/Texas Politics Project Poll team – – Joshua Blank, Daron Shaw, and James Henson – look at results the much-noted decline in President Trump's job approval numbers in their June poll, and how Trump's standing intersects attitudes on the economy and immigration, as well as what can be read into the current positions of Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton in anticipation of Paxton's challenge to Cornyn in the 2026 GOP primary.

• June 2025 University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll: Economic concerns drag Trump’s job approval underwater in Texas, while most Texans oppose ban on THC products dividing GOP leadership

  June 24, 2025 | By: Jim Henson, Joshua Blank
  A new University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll finds President Donald Trump’s job approval falling into net-negative territory for the first time in his second term, with 44% approving and 51% disapproving. Texans’ views of the performance of state political leaders also took a negative turn as economic concerns persist in the Lone Star State.

• Greg Abbott Approval (June 2025)

  Respondents were asked, "How would you rate the job Greg Abbott is doing as Governor? Would you say that you..."

• Second Reading Podcast: No Rest for the Weary as Immigration & Redistricting Politics Shatter the Post-Session Vibe in Texas

  June 12, 2025 | By:
  James Henson and Joshua Blank talk about how immigration protests, the Trump administration’s push for redistricting in Texas, and the short-lived in-state tuition lawsuit have disturbed the post session lull in the Lone Star State.

• Second Reading Podcast: Public Opinion and the Big Unresolved Issues Pending in the Texas Legislature

  May 15, 2025 | By: James Henson
  James Henson and Joshua Blank look at the big issues still pending in the Texas Legislature, including property taxes, education funding, water, the budget, bail, THC products, and more as deadline pressures suffocate House bills. Also: #txlege theme songs.

• Latest UT/Texas Politics Project Poll: Economic Uncertainty Hurts Trump Ratings in Texas, Looms Over the Legislature

  May 06, 2025 | By: James Henson, Joshua Blank
  After a brief post-election honeymoon in Texas, President Donald J. Trump’s job approval ratings have fallen back to levels found during his first term in office, as Texans’ widespread economic concerns persist amidst the President’s ongoing trade war, according to a new University of Texas / Texas Politics project Poll. With 47% of Texas voters approving of the job he is doing as President and 46% disapproving, Trump barely remains in net-positive territory in Texas, though.