TEXAS — As Election Day nears, a new poll shows that Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beth O’Rourke could beat Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
A poll released Wednesday by the UT/Texas Politics Project shows Abbott leading O’Rourke 45% to 40%.
The survey also found that the Libertarian Party and Green Party candidates each received 2%, 3% of respondents indicated “someone else” and 8% said they had not thought about it enough to have an opinion.
The survey of 1,200 registered voters was conducted online between August 28 and September 6. Its error is +/- 2.83%.
The extensive survey showed that Abbott has some advantages. Respondents indicated they trust the governor to do a better job with the state economy, public safety, voting and elections, and immigration/border issues.
Texans said they trust O’Rourke to do a better job on abortion and environmental/climate change.
It’s much closer when it comes to health care, public education, gun violence, and the public grid.
Perhaps unfortunately for O’Rourke, respondents cited immigration/border security as the top issue for the 2022 election. Public economics, abortion, gun violence, climate change, and health care.
Abbott and O’Rourke will take part in a statewide debate on September 30.
The poll showed incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick with a 7-point lead over Democratic challenger Mike Collier. Collier, who has the support of several prominent state Republicans, came within 5 points of unseating Patrick in 2018.
The poll shows Republican incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton with a 38-33% lead over Democratic challenger Rachel Garza. The results were little changed from a June poll that showed him with an 8-point lead.
Election day is Tuesday, November 8.
