September 30, 2022
The gubernatorial debate between incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto ORourke in McAllen, Texas is likely to be the only time the two candidates will share a stage in the 2022 campaign. The University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll has been exploring Texas attitudes related to the candidates and the broader context of the election over the last year, and got into extensive detail in our most recent poll, which was conducted from August 26-September 6.
To provide context for tonight’s debate, we’ve gathered several results that illustrate how Texans view each of the candidates, their comparative levels of trust on the major issues emerging in the campaign, and more. This post is built for browsing – readers can use the links below to jump to subjects in the post that most interest them, or just graze through the results. All of the results from the last UT/Texas Politics Project Poll are on our latest poll page. You can review all of the public polls, with links to individual poll results, using our Texas 2022 Gubernatorial Poll Tracker.
The debate will be carried on Nexstar stations in Texas, and streamed at various sites.
Vote Intention
Favorability Ratings of Abbott and O'Rourke
Issue Salience
Trust on selected issues
Greg Abbott Job Approval Trends
Click here for more, related results.
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| category | Total |
|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 45% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 40% |
| Delilah Barrios | 2% |
| Mark Tippets | 2% |
| Someone else | 3% |
| Haven't thought about it enough to have an opinion | 8% |
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| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 4% | 40% | 86% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 85% | 22% | 5% |
| Delilah Barrios | 2% | 1% | 1% |
| Mark Tippets | 2% | 5% | 1% |
| Someone else | 1% | 6% | 3% |
| Haven't thought about it enough to have an opinion | 6% | 25% | 4% |
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| Category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 58% | 15% | 33% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 29% | 71% | 52% |
| Delilah Barrios | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Mark Tippets | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Someone else | 3% | 0% | 2% |
| Haven't thought about it enough to have an opinion | 7% | 10% | 10% |
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| Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 32% | 48% | 61% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 51% | 39% | 26% |
| Delilah Barrios | 3% | 1% | 1% |
| Mark Tippets | 3% | 1% | 2% |
| Someone else | 2% | 3% | 2% |
| Haven't thought about it enough to have an opinion | 8% | 8% | 9% |
Favorability Ratings of Abbott and O'Rourke
Click here and here for more, related results.
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| category | Total |
|---|---|
| Very favorable | 22% |
| Somewhat favorable | 23% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 8% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 8% |
| Very unfavorable | 37% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 2% |
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| category | Total |
|---|---|
| Very favorable | 25% |
| Somewhat favorable | 16% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 7% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 6% |
| Very unfavorable | 42% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 4% |
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| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 3% | 5% | 44% |
| Somewhat favorable | 8% | 32% | 35% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 5% | 14% | 8% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 6% | 16% | 7% |
| Very unfavorable | 77% | 27% | 6% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 1% | 6% | 1% |
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| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 56% | 9% | 3% |
| Somewhat favorable | 28% | 14% | 7% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 8% | 7% | 4% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 2% | 16% | 5% |
| Very unfavorable | 3% | 47% | 80% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 2% | 7% | 2% |
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| Category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 28% | 9% | 15% |
| Somewhat favorable | 27% | 13% | 18% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 8% | 8% | 8% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 7% | 8% | 9% |
| Very unfavorable | 28% | 58% | 46% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 1% | 3% | 4% |
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| Category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 17% | 51% | 30% |
| Somewhat favorable | 14% | 23% | 20% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 6% | 9% | 8% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 6% | 6% | 5% |
| Very unfavorable | 55% | 6% | 32% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 3% | 5% | 5% |
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| Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 18% | 21% | 32% |
| Somewhat favorable | 17% | 26% | 25% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 10% | 7% | 5% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 8% | 7% | 8% |
| Very unfavorable | 45% | 37% | 27% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 3% | 2% | 2% |
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| Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 34% | 24% | 15% |
| Somewhat favorable | 20% | 17% | 8% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 9% | 5% | 7% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 6% | 6% | 4% |
| Very unfavorable | 25% | 46% | 60% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 5% | 2% | 5% |
Click here and here for more, related results.
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| category | Total |
|---|---|
| The state economy | 63% |
| Public safety | 60% |
| The state’s electric grid | 60% |
| Voting and elections | 59% |
| Health care | 57% |
| Public education | 56% |
| Immigration / Border security | 55% |
| Gun violence | 54% |
| Abortion | 52% |
| Property taxes | 47% |
| The environment / climate change | 40% |
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| category | Total |
|---|---|
| Immigration / Border security | 26% |
| The state economy | 13% |
| Abortion | 12% |
| Gun violence | 11% |
| Climate change | 7% |
| Health care | 6% |
| Voting & elections | 6% |
| Property taxes | 5% |
| The state's electric grid | 4% |
| Public education | 3% |
| Public safety | 2% |
| Don't know / No opinion | 4% |
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| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| The state economy | 52% | 57% | 75% |
| Public safety | 57% | 50% | 66% |
| The state’s electric grid | 69% | 53% | 55% |
| Voting and elections | 62% | 41% | 63% |
| Health care | 72% | 49% | 44% |
| Public education | 65% | 38% | 52% |
| Immigration / Border security | 28% | 62% | 78% |
| Gun violence | 78% | 40% | 33% |
| Abortion | 71% | 32% | 38% |
| Property taxes | 36% | 49% | 58% |
| The environment / climate change | 67% | 31% | 17% |
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| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration / Border security | 4% | 27% | 49% |
| The state economy | 10% | 10% | 18% |
| Abortion | 21% | 6% | 5% |
| Gun violence | 18% | 15% | 2% |
| Climate change | 12% | 6% | 3% |
| Health care | 8% | 5% | 4% |
| Voting & elections | 9% | 3% | 4% |
| Property taxes | 2% | 16% | 6% |
| The state's electric grid | 7% | 3% | 2% |
| Public education | 4% | 2% | 3% |
| Public safety | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| Don't know / No opinion | 4% | 7% | 2% |
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| Category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| The state economy | 62% | 65% | 62% |
| Public safety | 59% | 62% | 64% |
| The state’s electric grid | 61% | 55% | 60% |
| Voting and elections | 62% | 58% | 54% |
| Health care | 51% | 66% | 65% |
| Public education | 56% | 55% | 58% |
| Immigration / Border security | 63% | 39% | 48% |
| Gun violence | 47% | 75% | 63% |
| Abortion | 49% | 55% | 56% |
| Property taxes | 47% | 39% | 52% |
| The environment / climate change | 31% | 54% | 50% |
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| Category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration / Border security | 34% | 3% | 19% |
| The state economy | 14% | 15% | 12% |
| Abortion | 11% | 13% | 11% |
| Gun violence | 5% | 27% | 16% |
| Climate change | 6% | 8% | 10% |
| Health care | 5% | 8% | 8% |
| Voting & elections | 6% | 6% | 5% |
| Property taxes | 5% | 3% | 6% |
| The state's electric grid | 4% | 7% | 4% |
| Public education | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Public safety | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Don't know / No opinion | 4% | 4% | 3% |
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| Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| The state economy | 58% | 63% | 70% |
| Public safety | 60% | 60% | 61% |
| The state’s electric grid | 58% | 57% | 68% |
| Voting and elections | 57% | 59% | 63% |
| Health care | 61% | 55% | 53% |
| Public education | 53% | 55% | 62% |
| Immigration / Border security | 47% | 55% | 68% |
| Gun violence | 63% | 52% | 47% |
| Abortion | 55% | 51% | 50% |
| Property taxes | 43% | 47% | 54% |
| The environment / climate change | 48% | 37% | 34% |
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| Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration / Border security | 16% | 29% | 35% |
| The state economy | 13% | 13% | 17% |
| Abortion | 13% | 12% | 9% |
| Gun violence | 14% | 11% | 3% |
| Climate change | 7% | 8% | 5% |
| Health care | 7% | 6% | 5% |
| Voting & elections | 8% | 6% | 3% |
| Property taxes | 6% | 4% | 8% |
| The state's electric grid | 6% | 4% | 3% |
| Public education | 3% | 4% | 2% |
| Public safety | 4% | 1% | 4% |
| Don't know / No opinion | 3% | 3% | 6% |
Trust on immigration / border security...
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| category | Total |
|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 48% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 36% |
| Neither | 9% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 7% |
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| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 7% | 56% | 86% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 76% | 14% | 5% |
| Neither | 8% | 21% | 7% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 8% | 8% | 3% |
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| Category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 62% | 16% | 36% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 25% | 60% | 47% |
| Neither | 8% | 11% | 10% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 5% | 13% | 7% |
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| Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 33% | 52% | 64% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 48% | 33% | 23% |
| Neither | 10% | 8% | 10% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 8% | 7% | 4% |
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| category | Total |
|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 46% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 35% |
| Neither | 9% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 10% |
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| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 6% | 51% | 84% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 74% | 14% | 5% |
| Neither | 7% | 23% | 7% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 12% | 11% | 5% |
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| Category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 59% | 16% | 34% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 24% | 63% | 44% |
| Neither | 10% | 7% | 10% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 7% | 13% | 12% |
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| Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 34% | 49% | 60% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 47% | 32% | 22% |
| Neither | 10% | 9% | 10% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 10% | 10% | 8% |
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| category | Total |
|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 38% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 42% |
| Neither | 12% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 9% |
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| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 5% | 35% | 69% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 83% | 27% | 9% |
| Neither | 6% | 22% | 14% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 7% | 17% | 8% |
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| Category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 49% | 13% | 27% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 33% | 62% | 51% |
| Neither | 11% | 16% | 10% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 7% | 9% | 11% |
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| Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 28% | 38% | 53% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 52% | 40% | 29% |
| Neither | 12% | 13% | 8% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 8% | 9% | 10% |
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| category | Total |
|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 42% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 42% |
| Neither | 9% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 6% |
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| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 5% | 40% | 78% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 83% | 29% | 10% |
| Neither | 7% | 17% | 8% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 6% | 14% | 4% |
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| Category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 55% | 11% | 30% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 30% | 70% | 54% |
| Neither | 9% | 9% | 10% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 6% | 10% | 6% |
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| Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Abbott | 29% | 44% | 61% |
| Beto O'Rourke | 56% | 41% | 23% |
| Neither | 11% | 8% | 10% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 5% | 8% | 5% |
​Greg Abbott Job Approval Trends
Click here and here for more, related results.
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| Poll | Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't Know |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 2015 | 42% | 29% | 28% |
| February 2016 | 41% | 29% | 30% |
| June 2016 | 42% | 31% | 27% |
| October 2016 | 42% | 33% | 25% |
| February 2017 | 45% | 33% | 23% |
| June 2017 | 45% | 38% | 16% |
| October 2017 | 48% | 33% | 19% |
| February 2018 | 46% | 31% | 23% |
| June 2018 | 47% | 36% | 18% |
| October 2018 | 52% | 32% | 17% |
| February 2019 | 51% | 32% | 17% |
| June 2019 | 51% | 31% | 18% |
| October 2019 | 52% | 28% | 21% |
| February 2020 | 48% | 34% | 18% |
| April 2020 | 56% | 32% | 13% |
| June 2020 | 49% | 39% | 13% |
| October 2020 | 47% | 40% | 14% |
| February 2021 | 46% | 39% | 15% |
| March 2021 | 45% | 43% | 11% |
| April 2021 | 43% | 45% | 13% |
| June 2021 | 44% | 44% | 11% |
| August 2021 | 41% | 50% | 9% |
| October 2021 | 43% | 48% | 10% |
| February 2022 | 44% | 42% | 15% |
| April 2022 | 47% | 41% | 13% |
| June 2022 | 43% | 46% | 12% |
| August 2022 | 46% | 44% | 10% |
| October 2022 | 47% | 44% | 9% |
| December 2022 | 49% | 41% | 8% |
| February 2023 | 46% | 43% | 12% |
| April 2023 | 46% | 41% | 12% |
| June 2023 | 47% | 42% | 12% |
| August 2023 | 45% | 45% | 10% |
| October 2023 | 49% | 40% | 10% |
| December 2023 | 48% | 41% | 11% |
| February 2024 | 53% | 37% | 10% |
| April 2024 | 55% | 37% | 10% |
| June 2024 | 50% | 39% | 11% |
| August 2024 | 49% | 42% | 9% |
| October 2024 | 51% | 38% | 12% |
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| category | Total |
|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 22% |
| Approve somewhat | 24% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 8% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 8% |
| Disapprove strongly | 36% |
| Don't know | 2% |
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| Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 3% | 5% | 42% |
| Approve somewhat | 8% | 32% | 38% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 5% | 13% | 8% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 7% | 15% | 7% |
| Disapprove strongly | 77% | 28% | 5% |
| Don't know | 1% | 6% | 0% |
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| Category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 27% | 11% | 17% |
| Approve somewhat | 29% | 14% | 19% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 7% | 13% | 10% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 9% | 8% | 6% |
| Disapprove strongly | 28% | 54% | 44% |
| Don't know | 1% | 1% | 4% |
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| Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 18% | 21% | 31% |
| Approve somewhat | 22% | 25% | 26% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 9% | 9% | 6% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 6% | 9% | 8% |
| Disapprove strongly | 43% | 35% | 28% |
| Don't know | 2% | 1% | 2% |