Post Date: May 2023
Texans’ views of Ken Paxton in UT/Texas Politics Project polling as the Texas Attorney General faces impeachment
With the Texas House of Representatives poised to consider 20 articles of impeachment against Attorney General Ken Paxton, we’ve pulled several looks at voters’ views of the Attorney General from the Texas Politics Project archives.
Second Reading Podcast: A brief sine die in the wake of the Paxton impeachment
In the latest Second Reading Podcast, a conversation about the end of the regular session and the impeachment and pending trial of Ken Paxton.
Why Transgender Politics are So Irresistible to Republicans in the 88th Texas Legislature
Any issue that finds partisans on one side in overwhelming agreement over the fundamentals of an issue pitted against a divided opposition is one that provides major political advantages for the unified side. Legislating the lives of transgender people is one of those issues.
Second Reading Podcast: Vouchers, property taxes, and other things dividing Republicans in the Texas Legislature
In the latest Second Reading Podcast: a look at what the latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll tells us about the suprising movement of a bill that would raise the legal age for purchasing some firearms from 18- to 21 years of age, and Gov. Abbott's latest actions on the US-Mexico border.
A review of Texas immigration and border security attitudes as Title 42 ends and Republicans in the Texas Legislature hold the line on border security
With the flare-up of heated hostilities in the House over their version of a state border police proposal (which eventually passed in diluted form after the Speaker-endorsed HB 20 went down onto a point of order), and the renewed crisis underway at the border, we have compiled an updated set of results from the Texas Politics Project archive to illustrate patterns of public opinion on the subject in Texas – and how aggressive enforcement policies on the border align with the attitudes of Republican voters in Texas.
Second Reading Podcast: Guns & the border take center stage as the Texas Legislature enters its final weeks
In the latest Second Reading Podcast: a look at what the latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll tells us about the suprising movement of a bill that would raise the legal age for purchasing some firearms from 18- to 21 years of age, and Gov. Abbott's latest actions on the US-Mexico border.
The needs of a growing Texas collide with reelection pressures as the Republican-led Legislature struggles to reach consensus
The latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll found a striking degree of aggregate, bi-partisan support for the more fundamental policy proposals that are currently mired in various parts of the legislative process. Texas voters expressed their strongest and most widespread support for legislative action in response to problems that have affected many Texans’ daily lives in recent years: reliable power in their homes and businesses, access to clean water, the safety of students and teachers in Texas schools, and relief from property taxes driven up by steep, consistent growth in real estate values.
Second Reading Podcast: What the new UT/Texas Politics Project Poll tells us about public views of the legislative agenda and the early stages of the 2024 election in Texas
In the latest Second Reading Podcast, the Texas Politics Project polling team gathers to discuss the results of the latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll, and what it tells us about politics and policy in the Texas legislature, as well as a look at Collin Allred's entrance in the 2024 U.S. Senate Race.
New UT/Texas Politics Project Poll: Most Texans look to Republican leaders to resolve differences, deliver on major priorities
The latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll finds large majorities of Texans saying that it’s important for the legislature to improve the reliability of the state’s energy grid and water supply while reducing property taxes – even as disagreements among the state’s Republican leadership about how to accomplish some of these goals, particularly property tax reduction, but also grid reliability, continue to boil over in public.
The poll reveals much less agreement and more partisan division in opinions about what the legislature needs to accomplish, and in response to specific policy proposals, especially on social and cultural issues that continue to roil politics across the nation, including abortion, transgender rights, and education.
Job approval trends for Texas statewide incumbents and other trend data from the Texas Politics Project poll data archive (April 2023 UT/Texas Politics Project Poll update)
This page compiles graphics for trends in job approval ratings of the current statewide incumbents (Governor, Lt. Governor, U.S. Senators) that Texans rate on every poll . Bookmark the page for easy reference – we’ve also added similar graphics for trends in Texans’ assessment of conditions in Texas and the U.S., and some archival results for comparison with leaders no longer in office.