Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) leads Democrat challenger Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke in the Lone Star State’s gubernatorial race, a recent UTTyler survey found.

The survey asked respondents, “In a race for Governor would you vote for Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, Democratic nominee Beto O’Rourke, Green Party nominee Delilah Barrios, Libertarian nominee Mark Tippetts or someone else?”

Half, 50 percent, said they would support Abbott, followed by O’Rourke, who garnered 44 percent support — a difference of six percent.

Further, 90 percent of likely voters said they are “certain” they will vote for the candidate as indicated previously in the survey.

Beto O’Rourke, Democratic candidate for Texas governor, speaks during a town hall meeting at the McAllen Creative Incubator Tuesday, June 7, 2022, in McAllen,Texas. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor via AP)

More generally speaking, likely voters in Texas deem securing the border as the top issue facing the state today — 28 percent. The economy/inflation comes in second with 20 percent, followed by reproductive rights and gun control, which garnered ten percent each. Notably, securing the border and the economy/inflation are the top issues for independent voters as well. 

When it comes to securing the border and improving the economy, likely voters trust Abbott to do a “better” job handling those issues than O’Rourke. Fifty-five percent said Abbott will do a better job securing the border, compared to 29 percent who said the same of the Democrat. Similarly, 49 percent believe Abbott would do a better job improving the economy, compared to 37 percent who said the same of O’Rourke. 

Overall, likely voters tend to trust that Abbott will follow through with his campaign promises, as a majority, 56 percent, said they trust him at least a “fair amount.” Of those, 31 percent said they trust him a “great deal.”

The survey was taken October 17-24, 2022, among 1,330 registered voters and 973 likely voters. It has a +/- 2.9 percent margin of error among registered voters and +/- 3.4 percent margin of error among likely voters. 

On Monday, roughly a week ahead of the election, Abbott announced that more Texans are working than “ever before in the history” of the state: