The large scale transition to online instruction in Texas higher education institutions has many government and political science teachers scrambling to migrate in-person courses into entirely online formats on a very short timeline. To help out with these efforts, we’ve gathered results from the last few years of the University of Texas / Texas Tribune Poll, and sorted them by common topics covered in introductory Texas government courses. The idea is that teachers trying to build online lecture presentations, exercises, or even assessments for their newly-translated online courses might find ready-made graphics useful -- and save time in a situation in which time is in short supply.
Roam around on this page and use our search page to find material you can use throughout your course. Though the data is all based on public opinion polling, the topics vary widely beyond the election polling that's so prominent in even-numbered years. Our data encompasses the last dozen years of Texas politics, and contains results on many major policy areas of interest to you and your students, as well as job approval and/or favorability ratings for all major elected officials in the state. Click on the subjects in the table below to jump to topics of interest, or just scroll down to experience the thrill of discovery.
All of the links to results (bold font) will take you to a graphic. Our poll result graphics all have a link in the upper right hand corner on the word "share" that opens up a menu that allows you to download the graphic you're looking at in multiple common file formats (i.e. jpg, pdf, svg, png). For comprehensive information and results from the polls of origing, see the files in our polling data archive.
The suggestions below are far from exhaustive - there is some riffing here, as we wanted to get something up relatively quickly as we know that many people have to move fast in response to changes as a result of COVID-19 triggered migrations to online delivery. So a disclaimer: this is not a course outline or teaching plan. We've just tried to gather some interesting results, in many cases simply as ideas or for illustration of what else one might find looking through our resources. Nor have I tried to be particularly comprehensive in scope. I urge you to use our excellent search tool or the search box at the top of each page to look for other results, and to click through the tabs of the individual results. And if you have other ideas or examples (or corrections/suggestions), please share them - you can email us at texaspolitics@mail.laits.utexas.edu. We’ll keep adding resources to the page as much as time allows. Let’s face it: we’re probably looking at a summer of online instruction in higher education, too – so it will be back to the drawing board sooner than later for many of us.
Governor Greg Abbott job approval, Feb 2020
category | Total |
---|---|
Approve strongly | 30% |
Approve somewhat | 18% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 11% |
Disapprove somewhat | 10% |
Disapprove strongly | 24% |
Don't know | 7% |
Abbott job approval trend (Nov 2015-Feb 2020)
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% |
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick job approval
category | Total |
---|---|
Approve strongly | 21% |
Approve somewhat | 18% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 13% |
Disapprove somewhat | 7% |
Disapprove strongly | 28% |
Don't know | 12% |
Poll | Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't Know |
---|---|---|---|
November 2015 | 29% | 26% | 44% |
February 2016 | 27% | 27% | 46% |
June 2016 | 31% | 30% | 39% |
October 2016 | 31% | 31% | 38% |
February 2017 | 32% | 31% | 38% |
June 2017 | 34% | 36% | 29% |
October 2017 | 36% | 31% | 32% |
February 2018 | 36% | 33% | 31% |
June 2018 | 36% | 34% | 30% |
October 2018 | 44% | 31% | 25% |
February 2019 | 42% | 31% | 26% |
June 2019 | 41% | 31% | 29% |
October 2019 | 39% | 32% | 29% |
February 2020 | 39% | 35% | 25% |
April 2020 | 40% | 36% | 24% |
June 2020 | 39% | 38% | 23% |
October 2020 | 37% | 37% | 25% |
February 2021 | 37% | 36% | 27% |
March 2021 | 37% | 37% | 27% |
April 2021 | 35% | 39% | 26% |
June 2021 | 36% | 37% | 27% |
August 2021 | 33% | 42% | 25% |
October 2021 | 35% | 39% | 25% |
February 2022 | 33% | 34% | 32% |
April 2022 | 37% | 36% | 26% |
June 2022 | 35% | 40% | 25% |
August 2022 | 38% | 37% | 25% |
October 2022 | 37% | 39% | 24% |
December 2022 | 43% | 36% | 21% |
February 2023 | 38% | 39% | 22% |
April 2023 | 42% | 36% | 23% |
June 2023 | 38% | 35% | 27% |
August 2023 | 35% | 40% | 26% |
October 2023 | 40% | 35% | 25% |
December 2023 | 40% | 34% | 26% |
February 2024 | 42% | 34% | 24% |
April 2024 | 44% | 33% | 24% |
June 2024 | 39% | 34% | 28% |
August 2024 | 36% | 36% | 28% |
October 2024 | 39% | 32% | 28% |
Our polling data acriver has more than 40 results tagged with "Texas Legislature," with graphics for multiple cross tabs for each results.
Texas legislature job approval
category | Total |
---|---|
Approve strongly | 8% |
Approve somewhat | 30% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 22% |
Disapprove somewhat | 16% |
Disapprove strongly | 13% |
Don't know | 11% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Approve strongly | 3% | 5% | 12% |
Approve somewhat | 16% | 23% | 45% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 20% | 28% | 21% |
Disapprove somewhat | 24% | 13% | 11% |
Disapprove strongly | 25% | 15% | 2% |
Don't know | 12% | 16% | 8% |
Job approval of Speaker of the House Dennis Bonnen.
category | Total |
---|---|
Approve strongly | 5% |
Approve somewhat | 14% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 26% |
Disapprove somewhat | 8% |
Disapprove strongly | 19% |
Don't know | 28% |
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Approve strongly | 1% | 0% | 9% |
Approve somewhat | 4% | 10% | 24% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 25% | 28% | 29% |
Disapprove somewhat | 11% | 10% | 5% |
Disapprove strongly | 30% | 15% | 9% |
Don't know | 30% | 38% | 24% |
Category | Lean Republican | Not very strong Republican | Strong Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Approve strongly | 8% | 6% | 11% |
Approve somewhat | 19% | 22% | 27% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 34% | 34% | 24% |
Disapprove somewhat | 7% | 4% | 3% |
Disapprove strongly | 12% | 5% | 10% |
Don't know | 19% | 28% | 25% |
We’ve done little polling related directly to the judicial branch. This is a broad favorability rating of the courts and criminatl justice system from June 2017.
category | column-1 |
---|---|
Very favorable | 7% |
Somewhat favorable | 33% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 25% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 19% |
Very unfavorable | 13% |
Don't know/no opinion | 2% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Very favorable | 7% | 2% | 7% |
Somewhat favorable | 31% | 25% | 38% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 28% | 20% | 24% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 19% | 25% | 19% |
Very unfavorable | 14% | 25% | 9% |
Don't know/no opinion | 1% | 3% | 2% |
We have several results on attitudes toward the death penalty (also useful for looking at partisan differences toward policy).
The most recent result of assessing support for the death penalty is from June 2018:
category | Total |
---|---|
Strongly support | 38% |
Somewhat support | 27% |
Somewhat oppose | 13% |
Strongly oppose | 12% |
Don't know / No opinion | 10% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Strongly support | 20% | 42% | 56% |
Somewhat support | 26% | 21% | 30% |
Somewhat oppose | 20% | 10% | 6% |
Strongly oppose | 22% | 10% | 4% |
Don't know / No opinion | 11% | 17% | 5% |
We also have a test of a proposal to decriminalize marijuana from June 2018 (on of several marijuna-related results from the last few years).
category | Total |
---|---|
Strongly support | 44% |
Somewhat support | 25% |
Somewhat oppose | 9% |
Strongly oppose | 12% |
Don't know / No opinion | 9% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Strongly support | 57% | 35% | 36% |
Somewhat support | 23% | 23% | 26% |
Somewhat oppose | 4% | 11% | 13% |
Strongly oppose | 10% | 17% | 15% |
Don't know / No opinion | 7% | 14% | 10% |
The February 2019 UT/TT poll included a battery of questions focused on different concerns about the administration, integrity, and fairness of elections that is useful for illustrating how different partisan frames inform attitues about the electoral system.
category | Total |
---|---|
Never | 18% |
Rarely | 22% |
Sometimes | 23% |
Frequently | 28% |
Don't know/No opinion | 10% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Never | 29% | 18% | 7% |
Rarely | 39% | 12% | 9% |
Sometimes | 14% | 28% | 29% |
Frequently | 8% | 26% | 47% |
Don't know/No opinion | 10% | 16% | 8% |
Our election battery in October 2016 captured some of the same patterns evident in attitudes, with some items pegged to the rhetoric of the 2016 campaign.
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Extremely serious | 29% | 36% | 40% |
Somewhat serious | 26% | 31% | 26% |
Not too serious | 21% | 16% | 18% |
Not serious at all | 19% | 14% | 11% |
Don't know | 6% | 3% | 5% |
This link takes you to 47 results tagged with "voting and elections" in the poll results archive.
These trend graphics presenting ideological identification among partisans are useful for talking about both ideological sorting and partisan polarization.
Poll | Liberal | Moderate | Conservative |
---|---|---|---|
July 2008 | 2% | 25% | 73% |
October 2008 | 2% | 20% | 78% |
March 2009 | 13% | 16% | 71% |
June 2009 | 6% | 12% | 82% |
October 2009 | 1% | 15% | 84% |
February 2010 | 2% | 9% | 89% |
May 2010 | 1% | 10% | 89% |
September 2010 | 0% | 9% | 91% |
October 2010 | 2% | 8% | 90% |
February 2011 | 3% | 14% | 84% |
May 2011 | 2% | 11% | 87% |
October 2011 | 2% | 11% | 87% |
February 2012 | 1% | 12% | 86% |
May 2012 | 1% | 22% | 77% |
October 2012 | 1% | 23% | 76% |
February 2013 | 2% | 12% | 87% |
June 2013 | 1% | 14% | 85% |
October 2013 | 3% | 20% | 77% |
February 2014 | 1% | 19% | 79% |
June 2014 | 2% | 12% | 86% |
October 2014 | 2% | 13% | 85% |
February 2015 | 1% | 16% | 83% |
June 2015 | 4% | 16% | 81% |
October 2015 | 2% | 14% | 85% |
February 2016 | 2% | 17% | 82% |
June 2016 | 1% | 15% | 83% |
October 2016 | 1% | 18% | 81% |
February 2017 | 3% | 23% | 74% |
June 2017 | 2% | 11% | 87% |
October 2017 | 2% | 14% | 83% |
February 2018 | 4% | 10% | 86% |
June 2018 | 3% | 13% | 84% |
October 2018 | 3% | 11% | 85% |
February 2019 | 4% | 11% | 85% |
June 2019 | 5% | 13% | 83% |
October 2019 | 5% | 14% | 81% |
February 2020 | 2% | 15% | 83% |
April 2020 | 4% | 13% | 83% |
June 2020 | 6% | 12% | 82% |
October 2020 | 5% | 12% | 84% |
February 2021 | 4% | 15% | 81% |
March 2021 | 3% | 14% | 83% |
April 2021 | 3% | 10% | 87% |
June 2021 | 2% | 15% | 84% |
August 2021 | 4% | 13% | 84% |
October 2021 | 2% | 10% | 88% |
February 2022 | 3% | 12% | 85% |
April 2022 | 4% | 11% | 84% |
June 2022 | 4% | 12% | 84% |
August 2022 | 5% | 13% | 83% |
October 2022 | 3% | 13% | 84% |
February 2023 | 3% | 18% | 78% |
April 2023 | 4% | 16% | 80% |
June 2023 | 4% | 13% | 83% |
August 2023 | 3% | 14% | 83% |
October 2023 | 6% | 19% | 75% |
February 2024 | 5% | 14% | 81% |
April 2024 | 6% | 14% | 80% |
June 2024 | 4% | 16% | 80% |
August 2024 | 4% | 17% | 79% |
October 2024 | 6% | 15% | 79% |
Poll | Liberal | Moderate | Conservative |
---|---|---|---|
July 2008 | 35% | 55% | 10% |
October 2008 | 44% | 36% | 19% |
March 2009 | 55% | 30% | 15% |
June 2009 | 49% | 34% | 17% |
October 2009 | 41% | 48% | 10% |
February 2010 | 44% | 45% | 11% |
May 2010 | 45% | 40% | 15% |
September 2010 | 52% | 34% | 14% |
October 2010 | 49% | 34% | 17% |
February 2011 | 43% | 38% | 19% |
May 2011 | 45% | 45% | 9% |
October 2011 | 54% | 36% | 10% |
February 2012 | 54% | 34% | 13% |
May 2012 | 38% | 51% | 11% |
October 2012 | 43% | 45% | 13% |
February 2013 | 52% | 34% | 14% |
June 2013 | 53% | 36% | 11% |
October 2013 | 43% | 43% | 14% |
February 2014 | 46% | 38% | 16% |
June 2014 | 47% | 40% | 13% |
October 2014 | 53% | 36% | 11% |
February 2015 | 45% | 40% | 15% |
June 2015 | 48% | 38% | 14% |
October 2015 | 52% | 37% | 10% |
February 2016 | 38% | 49% | 13% |
June 2016 | 44% | 48% | 8% |
October 2016 | 43% | 47% | 10% |
February 2017 | 44% | 44% | 11% |
June 2017 | 65% | 25% | 10% |
October 2017 | 63% | 27% | 10% |
February 2018 | 56% | 29% | 14% |
June 2018 | 64% | 28% | 9% |
October 2018 | 60% | 28% | 12% |
February 2019 | 67% | 23% | 10% |
June 2019 | 65% | 26% | 9% |
October 2019 | 50% | 33% | 17% |
February 2020 | 64% | 27% | 9% |
April 2020 | 62% | 29% | 10% |
June 2020 | 67% | 27% | 6% |
October 2020 | 63% | 29% | 8% |
February 2021 | 65% | 29% | 7% |
March 2021 | 62% | 31% | 7% |
April 2021 | 67% | 24% | 9% |
June 2021 | 62% | 29% | 9% |
August 2021 | 64% | 29% | 7% |
October 2021 | 63% | 30% | 6% |
February 2022 | 59% | 31% | 10% |
April 2022 | 60% | 34% | 6% |
June 2022 | 63% | 29% | 8% |
August 2022 | 62% | 31% | 7% |
October 2022 | 64% | 29% | 7% |
February 2023 | 60% | 29% | 11% |
April 2023 | 63% | 28% | 10% |
June 2023 | 63% | 30% | 8% |
August 2023 | 69% | 22% | 9% |
October 2023 | 63% | 29% | 8% |
February 2024 | 64% | 26% | 10% |
April 2024 | 57% | 31% | 12% |
June 2024 | 62% | 29% | 9% |
August 2024 | 62% | 27% | 10% |
October 2024 | 63% | 27% | 9% |
Almost all of our poll item graphics have tabs responses broken down by party identification. Remember that we combine leaners with their respective partisans, which usually results in independents making up 9% - 11% of the sample. These tabs tend to be useful for showing different degrees of polarization in attitudes on different issues, or toward different public figures. Find a few examples below.
Most important problem facing the country
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Political corruption/leadership | 22% | 15% | 11% |
Health care | 15% | 11% | 6% |
Immigration | 4% | 10% | 16% |
Environment | 11% | 4% | 0% |
Border security | 0% | 1% | 11% |
Moral decline | 2% | 8% | 8% |
Most important problem facing Texas
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Immigration | 8% | 19% | 24% |
Border security | 2% | 13% | 28% |
Health care | 16% | 11% | 5% |
Political corruption/leadership | 16% | 8% | 2% |
Education | 6% | 4% | 4% |
Crime and drugs | 5% | 3% | 3% |
Agreement or disagreement with the statement that all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. should be deported immediately.
category | Total |
---|---|
Strongly agree | 27% |
Somewhat agree | 20% |
Somewhat disagree | 15% |
Strongly disagree | 29% |
Don't know/No opinion | 9% |
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Strongly agree | 8% | 23% | 47% |
Somewhat agree | 12% | 11% | 30% |
Somewhat disagree | 18% | 23% | 10% |
Strongly disagree | 56% | 16% | 5% |
Don't know/No opinion | 6% | 28% | 8% |
(For more examples, see the public policy section)
Federalism/intergovernmental relations
Views of various institutions in the U.S.
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Military | 54 | 65 | 88 |
Police | 39 | 44 | 78 |
Texas State Government | 21 | 35 | 76 |
Local Government | 46 | 29 | 51 |
Courts | 26 | 25 | 47 |
Federal Government | 21 | 17 | 31 |
We don’t have a lot of polling results on this topic, but this blog post from 2015 took a look at how public opinion intersected with interest group preferences in the embrace of early childhood education (pre-k) during the 2015 legislative session. But find some results from some selected interest groups below.
National Rifle Association (NRA) favorability (October 2019)
category | Total |
---|---|
Very favorable | 27% |
Somewhat favorable | 16% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 13% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 7% |
Very unfavorable | 29% |
Don't know/no opinion | 7% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Very favorable | 8% | 16% | 48% |
Somewhat favorable | 8% | 16% | 24% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 10% | 28% | 13% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 10% | 6% | 3% |
Very unfavorable | 59% | 20% | 4% |
Don't know/no opinion | 5% | 14% | 7% |
category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
---|---|---|---|
Very favorable | 22% | 25% | 40% |
Somewhat favorable | 18% | 14% | 20% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 15% | 15% | 8% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 6% | 6% | 8% |
Very unfavorable | 32% | 32% | 18% |
Don't know/no opinion | 7% | 8% | 6% |
Black Lives Matter movement favorability (October 2016)
category | column-1 |
---|---|
Very favorable | 11% |
Somewhat favorable | 17% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 15% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 9% |
Very unfavorable | 45% |
Don't know/No opinion | 4% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Very favorable | 24% | 6% | 1% |
Somewhat favorable | 33% | 13% | 4% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 23% | 18% | 7% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 7% | 8% | 10% |
Very unfavorable | 9% | 52% | 76% |
Don't know/No opinion | 4% | 2% | 3% |
category | White | Black | Hispanic |
---|---|---|---|
Very favorable | 4% | 46% | 11% |
Somewhat favorable | 14% | 22% | 20% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 14% | 15% | 16% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 9% | 5% | 10% |
Very unfavorable | 56% | 9% | 38% |
Don't know/No opinion | 3% | 4% | 4% |
category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
---|---|---|---|
Very favorable | 13% | 11% | 7% |
Somewhat favorable | 23% | 15% | 12% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 21% | 12% | 12% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 10% | 9% | 7% |
Very unfavorable | 29% | 49% | 59% |
Don't know/No opinion | 5% | 3% | 3% |
Our polling archive is, of course, one big exercise in exploring public opinion.
One thing that makes public opinion is watching it change. Texas attitudes toward gay marriage is one of the best examples. Here is the entire body of results, including a trendline from June 2009 to October 2014, for our item including the now more or less obsolete policy option of civil unions, then two results separated by two and a half years (October 2014- june 2017) that saw support for gay marriage increase from 42% to 54% - with party identification breakdowns that add dimension to the story.
Poll | Gays and lesbians should have the right to marry | Gays and lesbians should have the right to civil unions but not marriage | Gays and lesbians should not have the right to civil unions or marriage | Don't know |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 2009 | 29% | 32% | 32% | 8% |
February 2010 | 28% | 35% | 30% | 7% |
September 2010 | 28% | 33% | 31% | 8% |
May 2011 | 30% | 31% | 33% | 6% |
February 2012 | 31% | 29% | 33% | 7% |
October 2012 | 36% | 33% | 25% | 7% |
February 2013 | 37% | 28% | 28% | 7% |
June 2013 | 39% | 30% | 26% | 5% |
October 2014 | 39% | 28% | 25% | 9% |
category | Total |
---|---|
Gays and lesbians should have the right to marry | 42% |
Gays and lesbians should not have the right to marry | 47% |
Don't know | 11% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Gays and lesbians should have the right to marry | 67% | 56% | 40% |
Gays and lesbians should not have the right to marry | 23% | 30% | 34% |
Don't know | 10% | 14% | 26% |
category | Total |
---|---|
Gays and lesbians should have the right to marry | 55% |
Gays and lesbians should not have the right to marry | 32% |
Don't know | 13% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Gays and lesbians should have the right to marry | 77% | 58% | 32% |
Gays and lesbians should not have the right to marry | 15% | 20% | 52% |
Don't know | 8% | 22% | 16% |
There are lots of poll results on issues here that might be helpful in illustrating the state's political culture. But one interesting theme that recurs in a lot of intro course discussions of political culture is the impact of the ongoing patterns of urbanization in the state. Almost all of our poll item graphics have tabs responses broken down by self identification as urban, suburban, or rural. A few example follow.
Our item on whether more people owning guns makes the country more safe or less safe.
Category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
---|---|---|---|
More safe | 30% | 35% | 50% |
Less safe | 47% | 41% | 24% |
No impact on safety | 16% | 17% | 16% |
Don't know/No opinion | 6% | 8% | 10% |
How much should the government do about climate change (from February 2020)?
category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
---|---|---|---|
A great deal | 37% | 29% | 20% |
A lot | 23% | 15% | 13% |
A moderate amount | 16% | 17% | 12% |
A little | 6% | 10% | 15% |
Nothing | 11% | 24% | 31% |
Don't know/No opinion | 7% | 5% | 9% |
Is Texas state government doing enough to protect the rights of LGTBQ Texans?
category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
---|---|---|---|
Too much | 18% | 26% | 33% |
Too little | 40% | 32% | 19% |
The right amount | 17% | 25% | 26% |
Don’t know/No opinion | 25% | 17% | 22% |
Another tidbit for considering political culture in the state: attitudes toward confederate monuments.
category | Total |
---|---|
Removed from view | 8% |
Moved to museum | 30% |
Remain, add context | 22% |
Remain as is, unchanged | 34% |
Don't know | 6% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Removed from view | 19% | 3% | 1% |
Moved to museum | 56% | 27% | 8% |
Remain, add context | 10% | 23% | 32% |
Remain as is, unchanged | 9% | 42% | 55% |
Don't know | 7% | 5% | 4% |
category | White | Black | Hispanic |
---|---|---|---|
Removed from view | 8% | 13% | 5% |
Moved to museum | 25% | 47% | 35% |
Remain, add context | 23% | 13% | 23% |
Remain as is, unchanged | 41% | 16% | 30% |
Don't know | 4% | 11% | 8% |
category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
---|---|---|---|
Removed from view | 14% | 7% | 4% |
Moved to museum | 35% | 32% | 18% |
Remain, add context | 20% | 22% | 23% |
Remain as is, unchanged | 24% | 34% | 49% |
Don't know | 7% | 5% | 6% |
Civil rights / voting rights / civil liberties
The UT/TT poll has asked a wide range of questions about various aspects of discrimination. This search result using the disrimination tag yields 48 items. A few interesting examples follow.
In February 2018, the UT/TT poll asked respondents to assess how much discrimination they thought particular social groups experienced in the U.S.. They were then asked: "In your opinion, which of the following groups faces the MOST discrimination in the United States today?"
category | Total |
---|---|
Whites | 10% |
African Americans | 21% |
Hispanics | 8% |
Asians | 0% |
Women | 3% |
Men | 4% |
Gays and lesbians | 6% |
Transgender people | 13% |
Christians | 15% |
Muslims | 19% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Whites | 1% | 16% | 17% |
African Americans | 35% | 16% | 7% |
Hispanics | 11% | 4% | 6% |
Asians | 0% | 4% | 0% |
Women | 4% | 0% | 3% |
Men | 0% | 8% | 6% |
Gays and lesbians | 9% | 2% | 4% |
Transgender people | 16% | 12% | 10% |
Christians | 1% | 9% | 31% |
Muslims | 21% | 29% | 14% |
category | White | Black | Hispanic |
---|---|---|---|
Whites | 14% | 0% | 5% |
African Americans | 12% | 59% | 18% |
Hispanics | 3% | 3% | 26% |
Asians | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Women | 4% | 1% | 3% |
Men | 5% | 0% | 3% |
Gays and lesbians | 5% | 10% | 10% |
Transgender people | 14% | 11% | 10% |
Christians | 22% | 4% | 6% |
Muslims | 21% | 12% | 19% |
Favorability rating of the #metoo movement from June 2019.
category | Total |
---|---|
Very favorable | 17% |
Somewhat favorable | 18% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 16% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 15% |
Very unfavorable | 25% |
Don’t know/no opinion | 10% |
category | Male | Female |
---|---|---|
Very favorable | 15% | 19% |
Somewhat favorable | 16% | 19% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 16% | 15% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 14% | 15% |
Very unfavorable | 30% | 20% |
Don’t know/no opinion | 9% | 12% |
Does the election system discriminate against ethnic and racial minorities
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Yes | 70% | 22% | 8% |
No | 16% | 57% | 85% |
Don't know/No opinion | 14% | 22% | 7% |
"Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: a sincerely held religious belief is a legitimate reason to exempt someone from laws designed to prevent discrimination?"
category | Total |
---|---|
Agree | 30% |
Disagree | 46% |
Don’t know/No opinion | 24% |
category | Extremely important | Somewhat important | Not very important | Not at all important |
---|---|---|---|---|
Very favorable | 28% | 19% | 17% | 12% |
Somewhat favorable | 21% | 23% | 17% | 6% |
Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 14% | 16% | 3% | 3% |
Somewhat unfavorable | 13% | 9% | 13% | 7% |
Very unfavorable | 17% | 26% | 43% | 69% |
Don't know/no opinion | 8% | 6% | 7% | 2% |
category | Male | Female |
---|---|---|
Agree | 37% | 23% |
Disagree | 42% | 51% |
Don’t know/No opinion | 21% | 26% |
One of our broader recurring questions that provides lots of grist for discussion asks whether Texas government provides a good model for other states.
category | Disagree | Agree |
---|---|---|
February 2010 | 31% | 57% |
October 2011 | 38% | 50% |
October 2012 | 36% | 54% |
February 2013 | 31% | 60% |
June 2015 | 30% | 59% |
June 2017 | 35% | 54% |
February 2020 | 30% | 54% |
April 2020 | 30% | 58% |
June 2021 | 42% | 51% |
August 2021 | 44% | 50% |
October 2021 | 42% | 51% |
February 2023 | 40% | 51% |
June 2023 | 40% | 50% |
Poll | Disagree | Agree |
---|---|---|
February 2010 | 9% | 83% |
October 2011 | 12% | 79% |
October 2012 | 11% | 85% |
February 2013 | 5% | 90% |
June 2015 | 8% | 88% |
June 2017 | 7% | 86% |
February 2020 | 4% | 86% |
April 2020 | 6% | 89% |
June 2021 | 9% | 86% |
August 2021 | 10% | 85% |
October 2021 | 8% | 86% |
February 2023 | 10% | 84% |
June 2023 | 12% | 80% |
Poll | Disagree | Agree |
---|---|---|
February 2010 | 54% | 33% |
October 2011 | 70% | 18% |
October 2012 | 65% | 25% |
February 2013 | 61% | 27% |
June 2015 | 57% | 29% |
June 2017 | 63% | 23% |
February 2020 | 56% | 25% |
April 2020 | 56% | 28% |
June 2021 | 81% | 14% |
August 2021 | 84% | 12% |
October 2021 | 82% | 13% |
February 2023 | 70% | 22% |
June 2023 | 72% | 21% |
There are numerous public policy results, several of which are shared in other sections of this post. The best way to find what interests you is to use our search tool - you can search by a long list of “topic” tags. Find just a couple of more results of current interest below.
On universal health care versus the current system (February 2020).
category | Total |
---|---|
The current health insurance system | 46% |
A universal health insurance system | 41% |
Don't know/No opinion | 13% |
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
The current health insurance system | 18% | 35% | 76% |
A universal health insurance system | 70% | 40% | 13% |
Don't know/No opinion | 12% | 26% | 11% |
On the legal status of mariujuana (February 2019):
category | Total |
---|---|
Marijuana possession should not be legal under any circumstances | 20% |
Marijuana possession should be legal for medical purposes only | 26% |
Possession of small amounts of marijuana for any purpose should be legal | 32% |
Possession of any amount of marijuana for any purpose should be legal | 22% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Marijuana possession should not be legal under any circumstances | 11% | 27% | 27% |
Marijuana possession should be legal for medical purposes only | 21% | 19% | 33% |
Possession of small amounts of marijuana for any purpose should be legal | 37% | 34% | 27% |
Possession of any amount of marijuana for any purpose should be legal | 31% | 20% | 13% |
Click the links below to find search compliations on the following tags for more policy areas (including older results for the examples above):
Healthcare | Education | Border security |
Budget and taxation | Abortion | Gun safety/ gun violence |
Marijuana | Transportation | Climate change |
Water | International issues | Discrimination / civil rights |
Some Texas Attitudes about U.S. government
Which branch of government do you trust the most? (February 2020 and, for comparison, June 2016)
category | Total |
---|---|
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch | 12% |
The President, the executive branch | 27% |
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch | 30% |
Don't know | 30% |
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch | 24% | 6% | 2% |
The President, the executive branch | 3% | 17% | 54% |
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch | 36% | 40% | 24% |
Don't know | 38% | 38% | 20% |
category | column-1 |
---|---|
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch | 14% |
The President, the executive branch | 17% |
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch | 28% |
Don't know | 41% |
category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch | 3% | 3% | 27% |
The President, the executive branch | 35% | 12% | 4% |
The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch | 31% | 36% | 26% |
Don't know | 31% | 49% | 43% |
President Trump approval trend
category | Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't know |
---|---|---|---|
February 2017 | 46% | 44% | 11% |
June 2017 | 43% | 51% | 7% |
October 2017 | 45% | 50% | 6% |
February 2018 | 46% | 46% | 8% |
June 2018 | 47% | 44% | 8% |
October 2018 | 48% | 45% | 6% |
February 2019 | 49% | 45% | 6% |
June 2019 | 52% | 44% | 5% |
October 2019 | 47% | 48% | 5% |
February 2020 | 45% | 48% | 7% |
April 2020 | 49% | 45% | 6% |
June 2020 | 46% | 48% | 6% |
October 2020 | 49% | 46% | 4% |
Poll | Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't know |
---|---|---|---|
February 2017 | 81% | 10% | 8% |
June 2017 | 80% | 13% | 7% |
October 2017 | 78% | 15% | 7% |
February 2018 | 83% | 11% | 5% |
June 2018 | 87% | 7% | 6% |
October 2018 | 88% | 7% | 4% |
February 2019 | 88% | 8% | 5% |
June 2019 | 88% | 8% | 5% |
October 2019 | 88% | 8% | 5% |
February 2020 | 87% | 9% | 4% |
April 2020 | 90% | 7% | 3% |
June 2020 | 86% | 8% | 6% |
October 2020 | 90% | 8% | 2% |
Poll | Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't know |
---|---|---|---|
February 2017 | 8% | 83% | 10% |
June 2017 | 5% | 90% | 5% |
October 2017 | 5% | 92% | 4% |
February 2018 | 8% | 85% | 8% |
June 2018 | 8% | 84% | 9% |
October 2018 | 6% | 91% | 4% |
February 2019 | 7% | 88% | 5% |
June 2019 | 11% | 86% | 4% |
October 2019 | 6% | 90% | 4% |
February 2020 | 5% | 89% | 6% |
April 2020 | 7% | 86% | 6% |
June 2020 | 5% | 93% | 2% |
October 2020 | 7% | 89% | 4% |
Poll | Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't know |
---|---|---|---|
February 2017 | 39% | 37% | 24% |
June 2017 | 47% | 41% | 11% |
October 2017 | 55% | 35% | 10% |
February 2018 | 49% | 37% | 13% |
June 2018 | 43% | 45% | 12% |
October 2018 | 39% | 43% | 17% |
February 2019 | 46% | 37% | 17% |
June 2019 | 46% | 39% | 15% |
October 2019 | 41% | 51% | 8% |
February 2020 | 36% | 47% | 17% |
April 2020 | 34% | 47% | 18% |
June 2020 | 36% | 50% | 14% |
October 2020 | 31% | 53% | 15% |
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz job approval (February 2020)
category | Total |
---|---|
Approve strongly | 29% |
Approve somewhat | 13% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 7% |
Disapprove somewhat | 8% |
Disapprove strongly | 36% |
Don't know | 7% |
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Approve strongly | 2% | 13% | 60% |
Approve somewhat | 4% | 16% | 20% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 8% | 11% | 6% |
Disapprove somewhat | 12% | 5% | 5% |
Disapprove strongly | 69% | 35% | 5% |
Don't know | 5% | 21% | 5% |
U.S. Senator John Cornyn job approval (February 2020)
category | Total |
---|---|
Approve strongly | 16% |
Approve somewhat | 20% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 13% |
Disapprove somewhat | 9% |
Disapprove strongly | 30% |
Don't know | 12% |
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Approve strongly | 1% | 7% | 32% |
Approve somewhat | 6% | 14% | 34% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 13% | 9% | 13% |
Disapprove somewhat | 13% | 18% | 5% |
Disapprove strongly | 56% | 30% | 5% |
Don't know | 11% | 22% | 10% |
Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't Know | |
---|---|---|---|
November 2015 | 27% | 34% | 38% |
February 2016 | 27% | 32% | 41% |
June 2016 | 24% | 35% | 41% |
October 2016 | 28% | 36% | 37% |
February 2017 | 30% | 34% | 36% |
June 2017 | 28% | 41% | 30% |
October 2017 | 28% | 42% | 30% |
February 2018 | 29% | 38% | 33% |
June 2018 | 27% | 38% | 34% |
October 2018 | 39% | 34% | 28% |
February 2019 | 36% | 35% | 29% |
June 2019 | 37% | 34% | 29% |
October 2019 | 35% | 34% | 31% |
February 2020 | 36% | 39% | 25% |
April 2020 | 38% | 36% | 26% |
June 2020 | 36% | 40% | 24% |
October 2020 | 39% | 39% | 22% |
February 2021 | 32% | 42% | 26% |
March 2021 | 33% | 42% | 25% |
April 2021 | 31% | 43% | 25% |
June 2021 | 34% | 41% | 24% |
August 2021 | 28% | 44% | 28% |
October 2021 | 29% | 44% | 27% |
February 2022 | 31% | 35% | 34% |
April 2022 | 32% | 39% | 29% |
June 2022 | 24% | 50% | 26% |
August 2022 | 29% | 42% | 29% |
October 2022 | 32% | 42% | 27% |
December 2022 | 35% | 40% | 25% |
February 2023 | 30% | 43% | 27% |
April 2023 | 33% | 38% | 29% |
June 2023 | 33% | 39% | 28% |
August 2023 | 28% | 42% | 30% |
October 2023 | 30% | 39% | 30% |
December 2023 | 28% | 42% | 29% |
February 2024 | 34% | 39% | 28% |
April 2024 | 36% | 38% | 28% |
June 2024 | 32% | 38% | 31% |
August 2024 | 32% | 36% | 32% |
October 2024 | 32% | 33% | 35% |
Approve | Disapprove | Neither/Don't Know | |
---|---|---|---|
November 2015 | 43% | 24% | 32% |
February 2016 | 45% | 20% | 34% |
June 2016 | 41% | 21% | 39% |
October 2016 | 44% | 18% | 36% |
February 2017 | 52% | 13% | 36% |
June 2017 | 51% | 21% | 27% |
October 2017 | 46% | 23% | 31% |
February 2018 | 50% | 18% | 32% |
June 2018 | 46% | 18% | 35% |
October 2018 | 70% | 8% | 21% |
February 2019 | 62% | 14% | 25% |
June 2019 | 63% | 12% | 26% |
October 2019 | 61% | 12% | 28% |
February 2020 | 66% | 10% | 23% |
April 2020 | 66% | 12% | 22% |
June 2020 | 65% | 15% | 20% |
October 2020 | 71% | 11% | 18% |
February 2021 | 56% | 18% | 24% |
March 2021 | 57% | 20% | 23% |
April 2021 | 57% | 18% | 25% |
June 2021 | 60% | 17% | 24% |
August 2021 | 51% | 21% | 28% |
October 2021 | 54% | 21% | 24% |
February 2022 | 54% | 16% | 30% |
April 2022 | 53% | 17% | 30% |
June 2022 | 41% | 34% | 25% |
August 2022 | 48% | 27% | 25% |
October 2022 | 55% | 22% | 23% |
December 2022 | 58% | 22% | 20% |
February 2023 | 48% | 26% | 25% |
April 2023 | 50% | 26% | 24% |
June 2023 | 51% | 24% | 24% |
August 2023 | 46% | 27% | 27% |
October 2023 | 43% | 26% | 31% |
December 2023 | 43% | 27% | 31% |
February 2024 | 45% | 26% | 30% |
April 2024 | 51% | 21% | 28% |
June 2024 | 46% | 24% | 29% |
August 2024 | 49% | 20% | 31% |
October 2024 | 48% | 18% | 35% |
US Congress job approval (February 2020)
category | Total |
---|---|
Approve strongly | 5% |
Approve somewhat | 13% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 16% |
Disapprove somewhat | 19% |
Disapprove strongly | 42% |
Don't know | 4% |
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Approve strongly | 6% | 1% | 5% |
Approve somewhat | 15% | 9% | 13% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 18% | 18% | 14% |
Disapprove somewhat | 23% | 10% | 19% |
Disapprove strongly | 35% | 53% | 46% |
Don't know | 4% | 10% | 3% |
Category | Male | Female |
---|---|---|
Approve strongly | 5% | 5% |
Approve somewhat | 13% | 14% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 13% | 18% |
Disapprove somewhat | 17% | 21% |
Disapprove strongly | 50% | 36% |
Don't know | 1% | 7% |
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell job approval (February 2020)
category | Total |
---|---|
Approve strongly | 15% |
Approve somewhat | 18% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 11% |
Disapprove somewhat | 7% |
Disapprove strongly | 39% |
Don't know | 10% |
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Approve strongly | 3% | 7% | 30% |
Approve somewhat | 4% | 9% | 33% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 10% | 8% | 14% |
Disapprove somewhat | 5% | 13% | 7% |
Disapprove strongly | 69% | 46% | 9% |
Don't know | 9% | 18% | 9% |
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi job approval (February 2020)
category | Total |
---|---|
Approve strongly | 19% |
Approve somewhat | 15% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 8% |
Disapprove somewhat | 6% |
Disapprove strongly | 46% |
Don't know | 6% |
Category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
---|---|---|---|
Approve strongly | 38% | 8% | 3% |
Approve somewhat | 31% | 10% | 2% |
Neither approve nor disapprove | 10% | 16% | 4% |
Disapprove somewhat | 8% | 12% | 3% |
Disapprove strongly | 8% | 40% | 84% |
Don't know | 6% | 15% | 3% |
Several results related to the federal government are also in our poll data archive.
For those of you who find you'll be continuing to teach online, consider the online textbook that we produce in conjunction with our partners at Soomo Learning, Texas Politics, currently in it's 8th edition. It was developed exculsively for online use, and integrates well with all major learning management systems (e.g. Canvas) and incorporates much of our public opinion data into its accessible introduction to Texas government and politics. If you are particularly interested in trends in policy, you should also explore the tool at the Comparative Agendas website, which is based in part at UT Austin. Their trends tool allows you to bulid cool customized graphics comparing multiple measures, including public opinion and legislative actions.
There are also a couple of other resources you can use, too. We have a YouTube archive with many video clips of interviews and events with Texas political figures. We haven’t paid as much attention to events and interviews in the last couple of years, but there are still some useful clips that are easy to embed in most learning management systems (e.g. Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle). If you're looking to add more on-demand/asyncrhonous content to your course to make the transistion easier to manage for students, these clips can be helpful. We also have a blog page at the Texas Politics Project site that you can treat as an open educational resource. You can link to these pages for reading assignments or exercises in interpretation for your students. For example, the most recent post (prior to this one) discusses partisan attitudes towards elections in Texas pegged to recent problems with elections (e.g. the most recent Texas primaries).
Finally, stay safe and well.