AUSTIN (Nexstar) — More Texans are seeing discouraging signs when it comes to their economic outlook, according to a new poll. The poll from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas shows growing skepticism of individual political leaders and the state of democracy in general.
The poll asked people about their views of the state of the economy in Texas. One question asked if the Texas economy is better or worse than one year ago. Nearly half of Texans polled, 46%, said that the Texas economy is worse, while 26% said it was better.
“There was nothing really to tell us that folks are seeing some bright horizon coming on,” said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project. “I think we caught voters in a very anxious, pretty negative mood.”
Another question dug deeper into the issue, asking if you and your family are better off or worse off than one year ago. The response showed 43% of Texans saying they were worse off, with 21% saying they were better off. More than a third, 35%, said their economic situation was about the same as one year ago.
“We’ve seen this number getting worse in terms of the share of people saying that they’re worse off going up, shares of ‘better off’ going down,” Henson said.
The price of food and consumer goods topped the list of economic issues raising concern, with 90% of people polled seeing it as a concern. The cost of healthcare was close behind, with 88% of people polled listing it as a concern.
The poll included a question asking to name the most important problem facing the state of Texas currently. The top answer was political corruption/leadership at 18%. Inflation/rising prices was listed at 14%, while 9% in the poll listed immigration as the issue of top concern.
“You break it down by party, and what you see is that the vast majority of those people saying political corruption and leadership are Democrats, very much a function of partisanship,” Henson said.
Texas AG Ken Paxton launches Senate primary challenge against Republican Sen. John Cornyn
The poll asked a series of questions asking people to rate the job performance of the state’s top leaders. None of them fared well. Just 39% of respondents approved of the job Greg Abbott is doing as governor, with 50% saying they disapprove. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had a 29% job approval in the poll. On the federal level, Sen. John Cornyn had 25% job approval among people polled. Sen. Ted Cruz had a 35% job approval score in the poll.
“For most of the year, Texas leaders’ numbers have been kind of either stagnant or decreasing slightly,” Henson said, later calling the numbers “a function of the general political environment, but also a very tough and extended legislative session.”
Popularity of U.S. Senate Candidates
The poll also included favorability ratings for candidates running for U.S. Senate in next year’s primary elections. Attorney General Ken Paxton is challenging Sen. Cornyn in the Republican Primary. The poll showed 28% of voters view him favorably, with 44% saying they have an unfavorable view of Paxton. That’s slightly better than Cornyn’s outcome in the poll, where 24% gave him a favorable rating and 46% said they have an unfavorable view.
“It’s just not moved a lot,” Henson said. “That race has still got a lot more money being spent and a lot more campaigning.”
State of Texas: Hunt shakes up GOP race for U.S. Senate
Rep. Wesley Hunt, who recently joined the Republican primary race, had a favorable score of 16% versus 18% unfavorable. Nearly half of voters polled, 45% answered “don’t know/no opinion” when asked about Hunt.
In the race for the Democratic nomination, former congressman Colin Allred and state Rep. James Talarico are holding steady.
“Not a lot of big surprises in the people that we know are in the race,” Henson said.
Colin Allred, who ran for Senate last year against Ted Cruz, has the name recognition. Only 17% of people in the poll said they had no opinion of Allred. He split evenly among favorable/unfavorable ratings, with 32% in each category.
For Talarico, close to half, 47% of those polled, said they don’t know or don’t have an opinion of the Austin Democrat. 22% gave him a favorable opinion, while 12% rated him unfavorably.
Name recognition is also an issue for former astronaut Terry Virts, who’s also running for the Democratic nomination. The poll showed 67% of poll respondents had a don’t know/no opinion of his candidacy.
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, however, is starting to stir up the possibility of running for the seat.
“Her favorability numbers among Democrats at 62%, higher than both Allred and Tallarico,” Henson said, “which means that we’re going to keep paying attention to all those trial balloons she keeps launching.”
Among the overall voting population, Crockett’s favorability is slightly negative, polling 30% favorable and 32% unfavorable. Colin Allred didn’t beat her by much, polling at 32% favorable and 32% unfavorable.
“If you’re Jasmine Crockett, it’s got to be very tempting to get in this race,” Henson said.
The Texas Politics Project polled 1200 registered voters in the state from Oct. 10 – 12. The margin of error in the poll is +/- 2.83%.
Comptroller suspends program to help underutilized businesses over DEI concerns
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts recently suspended new certifications and removed information from its website about the Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program — which provides exposure to minority and female-owned businesses in the state procurement process — to conduct a “legal review of the program’s administration and rules,” according to an agency spokesperson.
Kelly Hancock, the interim Comptroller, said new HUB certifications are suspended on his X account. “Businesses deserve a level playing field where government contracts are earned by performance and best value — not race or sex quotas,” Hancock wrote.
In a string of messages on his X account, Hancock said reviewing this issue was a top priority for him when he assumed the top position in July.
One of the architects of the decades-old program, State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, confirmed with Nexstar that a lawsuit against the state sparked the decision to remove information about HUB from the agency’s website.
“There are persons out there who obviously don’t want to see the HUB program in the state of Texas,” West explained. A spokesperson with the Comptroller’s office said the agency is continuing to assist Texans with “questions or needs related to state procurement.”
Who is donating Ten Commandments posters to Texas classrooms?
Despite ongoing legal challenges to Senate Bill 10, the donation of Ten Commandment posters to Texas public school districts has been overwhelming and swift. Records obtained by KXAN show that across just 14 Central Texas school districts, donors have given at least 6,400 posters since SB 10 became effective.
The law does not require school districts to spend any money on the posters, but it does mandate schools put the posters up once they’ve been donated. Records show districts across the state got similar donation inquiries from lawmakers, national evangelical groups — and even educators at their campuses.
Round Rock ISD records show a teacher at a local high school donated 30 Ten Commandments posters. Bastrop Independent School District leaders said it had nearly 900 posters donated from “multiple unknown individuals.” In Liberty Hill, district leaders said a local pastor donated more than 100 posters now hanging in two of its school buildings.
At least one school district, Frisco ISD, told KXAN it used $1,800 in district funds to purchase more than 4,000 Ten Commandment posters for its classrooms. The ACLU is suing the district over its decision to hang the posters up.
Sen. Adam Hinojosa, R-Corpus Christi, was one of the authors of SB 10, and since its passage, he has boasted about donating enough posters for every classroom in his district along the Texas Coastal Bend.
Some of the largest donations in Texas have come from national evangelical organizations.
Georgetown ISD told KXAN Citizens Defending Freedom, an organization that says part of its mission is to “champion faith in schools,” donated more than 1,500 Ten Commandment posters to the district. The ACLU is suing the district on behalf of parents who don’t want the posters up. A district spokesperson said the posters are not currently displayed pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
Some Texas school districts can’t put posters up yet
Although school districts have received, in some cases, enough posters for all their classrooms, what districts do next has been more varied.
Christie Slape – a parent and member of conservative political organization Moms for Liberty in Williamson County, joined several other parents to purchase 170 posters displaying the Ten Commandments. She donated posters to Round Rock ISD. But Slape received an email from the district’s general counsel saying the district was “awaiting further judicial guidance” before posting donated posters.
Hill was referencing an ongoing lawsuit filed by parents and religious leaders against 11 Texas school districts. The suit alleges the state mandate to post the Ten Commandments would “coerce students into religious observance.”
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, out of San Antonio, presides over the case and temporarily ordered school districts not to post the Ten Commandments while the case was ongoing.
One day after Judge Biery issued the order, attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union also sent a letter to every school district in the state, warning districts that posting the Ten Commandments could result in them being sued, too.
“The federal law clearly says these displays are unconstitutional,” Texas ACLU Attorney Sarah Corning said. “The law is crystal clear.”
But in the days following Judge Biery’s order and the ACLU’s warning, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a warning, too. In a letter, Paxton advised school districts across the state that only the 11 districts involved in the lawsuit have been ordered not to post donated posters — and said any district not in compliance would be “subject to legal action” from his office.
The Attorney General’s office has not responded to KXAN’s question about potential consequences if a district doesn’t display them. Paxton also said in his letter to districts that his office would defend school districts against any legal challenges arising from compliance with SB 10.
“The fact that they don’t know what exactly that consequence is, is even more problematic. We should be incredibly clear with our school districts,” Corning said.
Round Rock ISD has still not yet displayed the posters Slape delivered. In response to Slape’s following emails asking how and when the posters would be delivered to individual classrooms, the district said they were being “safely stored at the campus.”
“If the district were to immediately display the donations, we would not only be in danger of a lawsuit, we would be sued by a number of families and several organizations. This would be a tremendous waste of district resources when the question will be fully addressed by the Fifth Circuit in an upcoming decision,” Round Rock ISD spokesperson said in a statement to KXAN.
