Poll: Trump’s job approval number rises in Texas
About half of Texans today say they approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president, according to a new poll, an improvement of about nine percentage points compared to the same poll six weeks ago.
Results of the poll of 961 Texans conducted by Quinnipiac University this week show that 47% of Texas voters approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance while 47% disapprove. This compares to a negative rating last month, 43–52 percent.
Opinion is sharply polarized between Republicans and Democrats, with 88% of the former approving of the president’s job performance compared to 92% disapproval among Democrats.
Another key finding of the poll is that incumbent Senator Ted Cruz leads his challenger Beto O’Rourke by 50 points to 39. This finding differs substantially from the April 18 survey, which put the two neck-and-neck at 47–44 percent. In the governor’s race, the incumbent Greg Abbott holds a commanding lead over his challenger, Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez.
Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll, says that Trump’s improved standing helps account for the better numbers for Senator Ted Cruz. “It is hard not to see a pro- Cruz effect there,” he noted. “Sen. Ted Cruz, apparently benefitting from a nationwide Republican mini-move, has taken a solid lead in his reelection race.”
Although the president won Texas by a comfortable margin in 2016 (52-43%), job approval numbers do not always track with electoral support and can change month by month. Texans have taken issue with some of the president’s policies, for instance, a proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall. According to an April poll, a majority of Texans oppose this measure, especially Hispanic Texans.
Texas Democrats have criticized President Trump for policies that they say have hurt Texans. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke said yesterday that Trump is to blame for rising numbers of Texans without health insurance, and today argued that the president’s efforts to renegotiate the NAFTA trade deal are putting in jeopardy 1 million jobs in Texas.
The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted by phone, both with landline users and cell phone users. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percent.
