(Fwrd Axis) — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott leads Democrat Beto O’Rourke by 10 points in a hypothetical matchup in a battle for Texas governor, a new poll found on Monday.
A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll released Monday shows both Abbott and O’Rourke easily winning their primary contests and facing off in the general election in November. 47% of voters would vote for Abbott if the election were held today while 37% would vote for Rourke.
Abbott is seeking a third term and is touting his successes at the U.S.-Mexico border, running ads that O’Rourke would destroy all that has been accomplished. O’Rourke narrowly lost out to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in 2018 and then ran for president in 2020, which was a short-lived campaign.
The El Paso native has criticized Abbott for promoting extremist policies that he says do not reflect the values of the people of Texas. A November 2021 poll from Texas Politics Project shows Abbott with the highest disapproval numbers of his tenure as governor but still has 60% of Republicans supporting him, including former President Donald Trump.
Abbott has 44% of voters approving of his performance and 42% disapproving.
Meanwhile, O’Rourke has 93% supporting his candidacy while his primary challengers have just 2 percent of the vote.
