Texas Voters Favor Marijuana
Much More than Abbott in Poll

Capitol Inside
May 16, 2022

A proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in Texas is substantially more popular than Governor Greg Abbott and other major Republican leaders in the Lone Star State according to a poll that the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler conducted this month.

Sixty-percent of the Texans in the survey said they supported the legalization of pot that would be available to adults without the need for prescriptions. Abbott had an approval rating of 46 percent - four below his disapprovals - and he was ahead of Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke by 7 points with support of 46 percent in a preview of the general pairing in the state's marquee race this year.

Only 39 percent of the voters in the DMN and UT-Tyler poll in May opposed recreational marijuana - the position that GOP leaders in Texas have embraced.

As early voting for the Texas primary runoff election got under way on Monday, the poll that was released on Sunday included several intriguing twists - including the first evidence in months that the Republican overtime duel in the attorney general's race could be more competitive and closer than widely expected until now. Attorney General Ken Paxton led Land Commissioner George P. Bush by a mere 6 points with 41 percent and 24 percent of the voters in the poll undecided.

In a sign of possible concern for the state's ruling Republican Party, only 49 percent of the voters in the Dallas Morning News and UT-Tyler survey said they'd vote for a generic GOP candidate in a Texas House race this year compared to 48 percent who would back the Democrat in a hypothetical contest.

State Rep. Michelle Beckley was up by a dozen points over Mike Collier in the DMN and UT-Tyler poll with 31 percent in a battle for the Democratic nomination in the race for the post that Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is seeking again this fall. Collier, who lost to Patrick by less than 5 points in 2018, led Beckley by 12 points in the March 1 primary election. But 44 percent of Democratic voters said they hadn't decided on the runoff for lieutenant governor on May 24.

Democrat Rochelle Garza received support from 35 percent while overtime rival Joe Jaworski was favored by 20 percent of the Democrats with 40 percent undecided in the fight for the nomination in the competition for AG in 2022. Garza appears to have the best odds of an upset in November of the candidates on the Democratic statewide slate as a result of Paxton's personal tribulations including criminal charges that he's facing in a security fraud case.

Paxton - ironically perhaps - is the only elected statewide leader in the DMN and UT-Tyler poll with a higher approval rating than disapproval mark with thumbs up from 42 percent while 41 percent did not approve of his work as the state's top lawyer. Forty-six percent approved of Abbott's performance compared to 50 percent who did not.

Only 45 percent of the voters in the survey gave Abbott good marks for the way he's handling immigration at the border while 48 percent disapproved. The governor appeared to be out of touch - based on the poll findings - with Texans on the issue of critical race theory. Abbott had the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature ban CRT in regular and special session in 2021.

But 61 percent agreed that teachers should be able to discuss the impact that racial discrimination in the past contributed to inequities today. A mere 24 percent disagreed. While 60 percent said they didn't trust the state's foster care system to keep children safe, only 39 percent expressed confidence in it.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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