Abbott out to double-digit lead over O’Rourke in Texas governor race: poll

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) holds a double-digit lead over his Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke with less than three weeks left until Election Day, according to a new poll.

The incumbent is leading O’Rourke by 11 points among likely voters, 54 percent to 43 percent, the poll from the University of Texas’s Texas Politics Project found.

Nearly all Republicans and Democrats said they plan to vote for their party’s respective candidate. However, Abbott has a strong advantage among independents, with 60 percent saying they would support him and 29 percent saying they would support the former congressman and presidential candidate.

While Abbott leads among white voters and O’Rourke leads among Black voters, the two candidates are tied among Hispanic voters at 48 percent each, according to the poll.

Inflation was the leading issue for Texas voters in the poll, with 22 percent listing it as the most important issue facing the country. The next closest issue was the economy, with 12 percent of Texas voters listing it as most important.

The Texas Politics Project poll showed Abbott further ahead than other recent polls. A Marist College poll from last week placed O’Rourke just 4 points behind, while a late September poll from Quinnipiac University had the former Democratic presidential candidate trailing by 6 points.

The Texas Politics Project poll was conducted Oct. 7-17 with 1200 registered voters and had a margin of error of 2.83 percentage points.

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