Abbott holds 7-point lead over O'Rourke in new poll

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is maintaining a 7-point lead over his Democratic opponent Beto O’Rourke, according to a new poll released on Wednesday.

The University of Houston-Texas Southern University survey found that 49 percent of likely voters supported Abbott while 42 percent supported O’Rourke.

The results of Wednesday’s survey track with other recent polls. An August poll from the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler also showed Abbott holding a 7-point lead over O’Rourke.

Support for the two candidates breaks down sharply along partisan lines, with “virtually every Texas Democrat” intending to vote for O’Rourke and “virtually every Texas Republican” planning to vote for Abbott, according to the latest poll. 

Abbott’s and O’Rourke’s likely voter bases also represent vastly different demographics. While the current governor was more popular among older white voters, O’Rourke was more popular among younger voters of color. 

In the UH-TSU poll, Abbott leads the Democratic candidate by 29 points among white voters, but O’Rourke leads Abbott by 57 points among Black voters and 15 points among Latino voters.

The Silent Generation/Baby Boomer cohort and Generation X favored Abbott by 28 points and 11 points, respectively, while Millennials and Generation Z favored O’Rourke by 21 points and 23 points, according to the poll.

However, the gender breakdown is less distinct. While Abbott leads O’Rourke by 18 points among men, the two candidates are tied at 45 percent among women.

After the deadly shooting at a Uvalde elementary school brought the gun control debate back to the forefront, O’Rourke appeared to close the gap between himself and Abbott, leading to a sense of cautious optimism among the state’s Democrats. However, O’Rourke has been unable to gain further ground on Abbott in polls.

The UH-TSU survey was conducted from Aug. 11 to Aug. 27 with 2,140 respondents and had a confidence interval of +/-2.1.