Blog

Public opinion data points and other context for Greg Abbott’s 2023 State of the State address

| By: Jim Henson and Joshua Blank

Greg Abbott will deliver the fifth State of the State address from San Marcos Thursday, February 16th, presenting the opportunity to direct public attention to his agenda and to send signals to the Legislature and other state leaders about his legislative priorities. The strongest indication of those priorities will be the subjects he designates as emergency items, which would exempt legislation so designated from the constitutional provision that prohibits both houses from passing bills during the first 60 days of the regular session.

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Second Reading Podcast: A look at Gov. Abbott's political position ahead of his State of the State address

| By: Texas Politics Project

In the latest Second Reading podcast, Jim Henson and Josh Blank look at Gov. Abbott's polling numbers and political positioning going into this weeks State of the State address.

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Estranged Bedfellows? Polling reveals evidence of trouble in the long marriage between business and the Texas GOP

| By: Jim Henson and Joshua Blank

The GOP pushback against business remains one of the underappreciated themes of the 87th Texas Legislature – and one of the most important subplots of the 88th as the legislature shifts into higher gear. From the blacklisting of companies branded with the scarlet letters E-S-G from doing business with the state to the slow-motion demise of Texas's Chapter 313 business incentive program, the tide of conservative legislation aimed at shaping business decisions has upended assumptions about the traditional “pro-business” orientation of Republican governance in the state. Data from recent University of Texas/Texas Politics Project polling suggest that elected Republicans’ efforts to mobilize partisan support with rhetoric and policies that punish business finds support among some Republican voters eager jump on the anti-“woke” dogpile in the short run. But it also activates tensions in the governing GOP coalition.

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With the 2023 State of the Union address on deck, a look at Texas views of President Joe Biden

| By: Jim Henson

President Joe Biden is widely expected to use his third State of the Union address to tout legislative achievements in the first two years of his presidency while pointng to historically low unemployment – even as the Federal Reserve continues its efforts to wring price inflation out of an economy still on an uncertain trajectory – and political terrain that is just as uncertain. While the 2022 election proved to be a relative success for Biden compared to the usual (and widely predicted) first mid-term losses experienced by the party of incumbent presidents, Texas voters' assessment of him reflect the political landscape in a state which stayed firmly in Republican hands at the state level in 2022 after voting for loser Donald Trump by a margin of 52.1% to Biden's 46.5% in 2020.

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Second Reading Podcast: New Texas Lyceum poll finds more evidence of an unsettled Texas

| By: Texas Politics Project

In the latest Second Reading podcast, Jim Henson talks with Josh Blank about results from the 2023 Texas Lyceum Poll.

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Second Reading Podcast: Senate Committee appointments & budget bills as things pick up in the 88th #Txlege

| By: Texas Politics Project

In the latest Second Reading podcast, Jim Henson and Josh Blank discuss the politics of Texas Senate committee assignments and the first draft of each chamber's budget bills as the Texas Legislature continues to get organized.

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Second Reading Podcast: Public opinion and the politics of business in Texas

| By: Texas Politics Project

In the latest Second Reading podcast, Jim Henson and Josh Blank look at issues at the intersection of business and state government likely to get attention in the Texas Legislature in 2023.

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Second Reading Podcast: Once in a lifetime revenue as the 88th Texas Legislature comes to town

| By: Texas Politics Project

In the first Second Reading podcast of 2023, Jim Henson and Josh Blank look at signals from state leadership as the Comptroller's revised budget revenue estimate lands amidst the kick-of of the 88th Texas Legislature. 

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Between the election and the looming session, December UT/Texas Politics Project poll finds Texans skeptical of state government

| By: Jim Henson and Joshua Blank

The Texas Politics Project has released the results of the first University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll conducted in the interim between the general election and the kickoff of a Texas legislative session. The poll included a variety of questions about institutions, groups, and actors in Texas as the newly-elected 88th Texas Legislature considers their agenda at a critical time in the state’s history, while also continuing to track trends in Texans’ views of the job performance of elected officials and important problems and issues in the state and country. 

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Texas trend data on attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to curb its impact (December 2022 UT/Texas Politics Project Poll update)

| By: Jim Henson and Joshua Blank

The December 2022 UT/Texas Politics Project Poll adds an 12th assessment of Texans’ attitudes about the coronavirus pandemic to the Texas Politics Project polling data archive, adding to data collected in batteries from polls conducted in April, June, and October of 2020; February, April, June, August and October of 2021, and February, April, June, August, and October of 2022. The time series allows reporters, researchers, elected leaders, public health officials, and the public a view of how Texans’ concerns about COVID, behaviors during the pandemic, and evaluations of the official responses have changed over the duration of the COVID pandemic.

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Keywords: Coronavirus

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