Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) leads Democrat challenger Robert Francis O’Rourke in the state’s gubernatorial matchup, a University of Houston/Texas Southern University survey released this week found.
The survey asked respondents — both likely voters and “almost certain” voters — who they plan to vote for in the 2022 gubernatorial race.
Abbott boasts a seven-point lead over O’Rourke among likely voters, 49 percent to 42 percent. However, the Republican’s lead expands by 12 percentage points among “almost certain” voters, leading 53 percent to O’Rourke’s 41 percent.
While the Democrat leads among Latino and black voters, the candidates are tied when it comes to support from women, garnering 45 percent support each. Further, the Texas governor leads among the Silent and Baby Boomer generations (61 percent to O’Rourke’s 33 percent) as well as Gen-X (51 percent to O’Rourke’s 40 percent). Meanwhile, the Democrat has a 21 point advantage among millennials and 23 point lead among Gen-Z.
Perhaps most significantly, Abbott has a double-digit lead among independent voters, leading O’Rourke 47 percent to 25 percent.
The survey was taken August 11-29, 2022, among 1,312 likely voters and has a +/- 2.7 percent margin of error.
It comes as O’Rourke continues to make gun control and abortion two hallmarks of his campaign. Over the summer, the Democrat accused Abbott of allowing six mass shootings to occur in the Lone Star State:
https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/status/1539420061538127873
He has also refused to express support for limits on abortion — even partial-birth:
https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1562870108283965441
Abbott, meanwhile, has continued to make national headlines after bussing migrants out of Texas and to blue sanctuary cities such as New York City, Washington, DC, and Chicago — a move Chicago Mayor Lightfoot (D) has apparently deemed “immoral” and “unpatriotic.”