A new poll released last week found that a majority of Texans disapprove of the job GOP Gov. Greg Abbott is doing, saying the state is on the “wrong track.”
The survey, conducted by The Texas Policy Project at the University of Austin, found that 41 percent of Texans approved of the job Abbott is doing, compared to 50 percent who disapproved of his job performance.
The approval is lower than it was in June when 44 percent approved of the governor’s performance, equal to the 44 percent that said they disapproved.
Fifty-two percent of voters said the state is headed in the wrong direction, the worst the institute has recorded since 2008.
The survey also found that Abbott’s job approval dropped among all partisan groups, but decreased most significantly among independents. Thirty percent of respondents who identified as independent voters said they approve of the job Abbott is doing, down from 41 percent in June.
His approval dropped from 77 percent to 73 percent among Republicans, and from eight percent to six percent among Democrats.
Abbott’s drop in approval rating comes as the Lone Star state has been in the national spotlight for a variety of issues.
The Texas Legislature approved an elections overhaul bill last week which, among other things, bars elections officials from sending unsolicited applications to vote by mail and grants poll watchers greater access to voting locations.
Meanwhile, local governments have launched a variety of legal challenges as Abbott signed bans on mask mandates amid a surge in coronavirus infections.
The poll was taken just ahead of a controversial abortion law taking effect in the state. The Supreme Court refused to take up last week.
