Poll: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott up 7 points over Beto O'Rourke; AG Ken Paxton likely headed to runoff

[TexasTowelie]

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott again holds a single-digit lead over Democrat Beto O’Rourke in the Texas governor’s race, while scandal-plagued Attorney General Ken Paxton probably is headed for a GOP runoff, according to a Dallas Morning News-University of Texas at Tyler poll released Sunday.

With a few breaks, though, such as a decision to stay home by GOP voters who say they probably will vote but aren’t sure, Paxton might get close to escaping a runoff, the poll found.

And although the state’s main electric grid held up well during a recent ice storm, boosting Texans’ confidence that their lights wouldn’t go out as they did last year, Abbott actually lost momentum from his double-digit lead over O’Rourke in January, despite his heavy spending on ads boosting himself and slamming O’Rourke.

Simultaneously, Abbott was taking hits from O’Rourke, the leading Democrat, and several Republican challengers running to the incumbent’s right. Also complicating the picture: Impressions of O’Rourke among all Texas voters, while still in net negative territory, improved slightly from last month, to 40% favorable, 46% unfavorable.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/02/20/texas-gov-greg-abbott-up-7-points-over-beto-orourke-ag-ken-paxton-likely-headed-to-runoff/

Link to tweet

[Metaphorical]

1. Differences in presentation

The headline "Greg Abbott up 7 points over Beto O'Rourke" would tend to imply that Abbott's lead is increasing, when in fact it appears to be fading fast (something you only get from context buried deeper in the article). I love American journalism (*sigh*)

I'd love to see the momentum continue - both Abbott and Paxton need to be sent packing.

[PortTack]

2. Exactly..the last poll showed ab-butt with an 11 pt lead

[Shell_Seas]

3. Paywall for me, but can you tell me what the demographics of the people of this poll are.

60% Republican?
75% white?

Who knows.

[TexasTowelie]

4. Unfortunately the poll did not include the sample sizes within each subgroup.

However, in the past I know that the same poll does weigh the groups to obtain a demographic balance based upon prior elections. Thus, the poll will likely skew slightly to the right.

There is a chart within the article that does provide some demographic information. I suggest opening the URL in a different browser to see if that will circumvent the paywall issues.