Josh Blank

In advance of Trump’s planned campaign kick-off in Waco, Texas, we have gathered some polling data to provide context for how Texans – most importantly Texas Republicans and independents – view the former president before his high profile visit. Overall, Trump appears to have retained the high regard of Texas Republicans, albeit amidst signs of some dampening enthusiasm. But large swathes of GOP voters remain not just positively inclined toward him; they also continue to believe the mythology surrounding his loss in 2020, and remain focused on the grievances that fed his takeover of the Republican Party in the 2016 election.

The postmortems of the 2014 Texas elections will no doubt feature much analysis of the split-partisan identity of the Hispanic electorate and why Davis didn't better connect with Texas' female voters, but the bigger explanation may yet rest on white males and their rejection of Wendy Davis and the Democrats.