Abbott and Biden in 1 Percent Club
in State GOP Convention Straw Poll

Capitol Inside
June 27, 2022

One percent of the delegates at the Texas GOP Convention pitched their support to Governor Greg Abbott in a straw poll on the 2024 presidential race that was conducted on cell phones during the first day of the event in Houston this month. The state's top leader fared the same with or without Donald Trump in the field of possible candidates.

Democratic President Joe Biden could make the case that he fared as well as Abbott in the state convention survey - with only 99 percent of the delegates rating him unfavorably while 1 percent were unsure. Eighty-nine had a favorable opinion of Trump compared to 5 percent who disapproved and 5 percent that were unsure.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was favored for the Republican nomination by 71 percent of the delegates when Trump wasn't an option - with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz a distant second at a mere 9 percent. DeSantis' support fell to 30 percent, however, when the former president was included. But only 54 percent backed Trump when he was a choice - an amount that is probably much lower than he would have received a year ago.

U.S. Senator John Cornyn remained in the doghouse with the delegates who'd booed him loudly when he spoke to the convention - gaining an unfavorable rating from 67 percent in the party poll. Abbott's numbers were bad for a second-term incumbent with just 51 percent of the delegates expressing favorable opinions compared to 32 percent who turned thumbs down.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz was the most popular Texan in the poll - with 87 percent of the delegates giving him good marks while 5 percent disagreed and 8 percent were not sure. While Cruz was third in the president's race polling, he was just another also-ran for all practical purposes with the contest down to Trump and DeSantis.

With Trump out of the line, U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley were knotted in third place at 3 percent apiece. Former Trump official Mike Pompeo, ex-Vice President Mike Pence and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem were in a group at 2 percent while Abbott, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and Someone Else were locked in last at 1 percent each.

The delegates were not as monolithic on guns as some might have expected - with only 75 percent expressing opposition to red flag laws while a mere 62 percent are against raising the age to buy firearms to 21. Ninety percent backed a moratorium on immigration until the border is secure.

But the delegates in the straw poll marched in lockstep on critical race theory and transgeders in women sports. Only 1 percent of the delegates favored teaching about white privilege and systematic racism in Texas schools while 1 percent were unsure. Ninety-seven percent opposed CRT while 2 percent said with guidelines - bringing the total to 101 percent.

Ninety-nine percent were against letting "biological men who identify as women" participate in organized women sports. There was no explanation for the missing 1 percent on the transgender sports question.

The only question that brought delegates to loggerheads centered on the possible abolishment of property taxes - with 70 percent in support of such a move but only 49 percent in favor of a statewide sales tax as a source for replacement revenue. Twenty-six opposed the swap while 25 percent were not sure.

more to come ...