A new poll released Tuesday spells trouble for Republicans in Texas in November.
Not only is Vice President Joe Biden polling evenly with President Trump in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott is also facing historically low approval ratings due to his COVID-19 response.
The Quinnipiac University poll surveyed 880 registered voters in Texas. Of those, 45 percent said they would vote for Biden if the election were held today and 44 percent said they would back Trump.
The survey matches what other polls this month have shown between the two candidates.
“With crises swirling through American society and a country deeply divided, there’s no other way to slice it. It’s a tossup in Texas,” wrote Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy in a prepared statement.
Most notably, the Quinnipiac poll shows Biden with a 19 percentage point lead over Trump with independent voters.
As for Abbott, less than half of Texans, 48 percent, approve of his job while 44 percent disapprove.
Abbott’s approval rating has tumbled with the rapid growth of the virus in recent weeks, which saw cumulative cases jump from around 100,000 last month to almost 350,000 as of this week.
The 48 percent figure is the lowest approval rating Abbott has faced since Quinnipiac began polling Texans in 2018 and is in stark contrast with his rating in June, when 56 percent of Texans approved of his job.
It’s no surprise why Abbott’s job performance has suffered in the eyes of Texans. Even when things weren’t spiraling out of control before the state’s premature phased reopening in May and June, Abbott held relatively weak approval ratings for a 100-year pandemic, with other governors basking in much better numbers during the crisis.
Photo: Callaghan O’Hare/Getty Images
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
