Joe Straus

Estranged Bedfellows? Polling reveals evidence of trouble in the long marriage between business and the Texas GOP

February 10, 2023
By: 
Jim Henson
Joshua Blank

The GOP pushback against business remains one of the underappreciated themes of the 87th Texas Legislature – and one of the most important subplots of the 88th as the legislature shifts into higher gear. From the blacklisting of companies branded with the scarlet letters E-S-G from doing business with the state to the slow-motion demise of Texas's Chapter 313 business incentive program, the tide of conservative legislation aimed at shaping business decisions has upended assumptions about the traditional “pro-business” orientation of Republican governance in the state. Data from recent University of Texas/Texas Politics Project polling suggest that elected Republicans’ efforts to mobilize partisan support with rhetoric and policies that punish business finds support among some Republican voters eager jump on the anti-“woke” dogpile in the short run. But it also activates tensions in the governing GOP coalition.

Job approval data from Speaker Phelan’s first term + historical Speaker approval ratings from the Texas Politics Project data archive

May 23, 2021
By: 
Jim Henson

While gathering some polling data for revisions I’m making to lecture notes for intro to Texas politics and government courses, I belatedly noticed that we have an unusual amount of job approval ratings for the new Speaker of the House as a result of the increased number of polls we’ve conducted so far this year. 

A round-up of Texas leaders’ job approval ratings in the midst of multiple crises

February 28, 2021
By: 
Jim Henson

The latest University of Texas / Texas Tribune Poll contained our usual complement of assessments of Texas political leaders. In such an eventful historical environment, every polling period now seems to have some kind of major event -- in the artless language of the social sciences, we’ll call it some kind of “exogenous shock” -- and the period during which we collected data for this poll, February 12-19, was no exception, from the ongoing pandemic, the vaccine rollout, the statewide power outages, and some ill-timed travel by some state leaders. This post rounds up find job approval ratings and related results with some brief commentary and, where it seemed interesting, graphics of some relevant cross tabulations or trend data. 

Amidst growing support for removing Confederate monuments, resistance remains strong in corners of the Texas GOP

July 27, 2020
By: 
Jim Henson
Joshua Blank

UT polls conducted in 2017 and 2020 captured a general shift away from support for leaving these Confederate monuments on public property unaltered, and a shift to majority support for moving them in 2020. Yet within this overall pattern of change suggesting more support for moving the monuments, the makings of significant conflict remain in evidence. There are important differences among different social groups that form along partisan, generational, and racial lines — and significant pockets of opposition seemingly colored by racial animus and a rejection of the otherwise growing recognition of the history and legacy of racism in the U.S. —  and in Texas. We examine these findings in detail below, with some discussion following. To summarize: Changes in Texas attitudes have been significant, but the group patterns within these changes suggest that visitors shouldn’t expect to see any empty pedestals or blank wall spaces next time they are allowed to tour the Capitol grounds. 

Governor Abbott (Still) Tops Texans' Evaluations of Elected Officials*

April 26, 2018
By: 
Jim Henson
Joshua Blank

In addition to its focus on Texans’ views of the issues facing the state a, the University of Texas / Texas Politics Project Poll regularly gages Texans' assessments of the state’s exclusively Republican leadership. As the political class in the state readies itself for the 2018 Elections and the 2019 legislative session, there have been small but notable shifts in voters’ estimations of their elected leaders’ job performance over the last few years.

Joe Straus Approval (February 2018)

Respondents were asked, "How would you rate the job Joe Straus is doing as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives? Would you say that you…"

A Milder Shade of Pale: Texas Data Points for the Week in Politics, November 3, 2017

November 3, 2017
By: 
Jim Henson
Joshua Blank

If you're reading this, you probably know someone who's at least talking about running for Lamar Smith's congressional seat, one of three GOP-held seats now without incumbent candidates in 2018 after Smith and Jeb Hensarling announced they'd be exiting Congress stage-right. Governor Greg Abbott braved the moral swamps of Washington, DC to shop around a $61 billion plan for disaster recovery and beyond for Texas. Back at home, application for homeowner buyouts for those on floodplains is outpacing funding for them. In more personality-driven news, Rockwall businessman Scott Milder is challenging Lt. Governor Dan Patrick in the GOP primary, and Rick Perry offered a heretofore unrecognized benefit of fossil fuels to an eager political press corps, who seemed very glad this week that the longest serving governor in Texas history continues serving the public.

Trying to Remember Who Was With Speaker Straus When He Announced He Had the Votes?

October 31, 2017
By: 
Jim Henson
Joshua Blank

On January 5, 2009, Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) held a press conference at the Texas Capitol to announce that he had the votes necessary to make him the Speaker of the Texas House, effectively deposing then-speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland) with the support of a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. He was re-elected speaker by the body for four subsequent sessions.

Spooked by the Speaker and Other Data Points from the Week in Texas Politics

October 27, 2017
By: 
Jim Henson

The week drew to an end with a meeting about how to treat the past, after the Senate Finance Committee looked to the future as it pondered life after Harvey.  Several rounds of court battles resulted in an undocumented teenager in federal custody receiving the abortion she had requested and the Trump administration had tried to block.  Trump himself came to Dallas on Wednesday, but his visit got knocked off the front page in Texas by the unexpected announcement of Speaker Joe Straus that he wasn't running for re-election next year, though he was staying in his seat -- and the Speaker's office.  Read on for fresh public opinion data related to this week's news from the just-released October 2017 University of Texas / Texas Tribune Poll.  (See hundreds of graphics from the poll results at our latest poll page, too.)

Straus-apalooza: A Round-up of Data on Speaker Straus and Video of His Appearances at UT Austin

October 25, 2017
By: 
Jim Henson
Joshua Blank

Speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus’ announcement that he won’t seek re-election to his House seat will trigger an open race for the speakership while defusing efforts to make Straus himself an issue in the GOP primaries – a tactic that hasn’t work especially well in recent primaries anyway. The speaker will serve out the rest of his term, but on the occasion of the Speaker’s announcement, we've rounded up results on the Speaker’s job approval ratings from the University of Texas / Texas Tribune Poll, as well as videos of the three interviews we’ve done with the Speaker during his term (recorded in 2011, 2015, and 2017).  

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