Paxton, Collier, Garza hold leads in runoff matchups.

(DALLAS, Texas, April 5, 2022) — Republican statewide incumbents hold an advantage in the early stages of the 2022 elections in Texas, but the Democrats lining up to challenge them are within striking distance, according to new polling from the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation (TxHPF).

The TxHPF representative survey of 1,435 Texas registered voters took place between March 18 and March 28 (confidence interval of +/- 2.6%). The survey included an oversample of 435 Hispanic registered voters to allow for a more fine-grained analysis of this important demographic.

Among voters who say they are likely to vote in November:

• Gov. Greg Abbott leads Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke by an 8% margin (50% to 42%) among likely voters and by a 12% margin (53% to 41%) among the most likely (almost certain) voters.

• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick leads both of his potential Democratic challengers. Among likely voters, Patrick leads Mike Collier by a 6% margin (49% to 43%) and Michelle Beckley by an 8% margin (50% to 42%). Like Abbott, Patrick holds larger leads over his Democratic challengers (10% over Collier and 13% over Beckley) among the most likely voters. If current numbers hold, his Democratic challenger in November will be Collier; Collier leads Beckley in the May Democratic runoff by a 12% margin (43% to 31%) among likely voters and by a 16% margin (47% to 31%) among the most likely voters.

• In the Republican runoff for attorney general, incumbent Ken Paxton has a commanding lead over Land Commissioner George P. Bush. Paxton is ahead by a 42% margin (65% to 23%) among likely voters and by a 51% margin (71% to 20%) among the most likely voters. In the Democratic runoff contest for attorney general, Rochelle Mercedes Garza leads Joe Jaworski by a 15% margin (46% to 31%) among likely voters and by a 21% margin (51% to 30%) among the most likely voters. 

• In hypothetical November matchups, Paxton leads Garza and Jaworski by 6% and 7% respectively among likely voters and by 10% and 12% among almost certain voters, while Bush is in a statistical dead heat with both Democrats, tied with Garza among likely voters and ahead of her by 1% among almost certain voters and trailing Jaworski by 1% among likely voters and tied with him among almost certain voters.

“Republicans are certainly the favorites to win in November, but they have not yet put these contests away,” said Dr. Mark Jones, the TxHPF Director of Research and Analytics. “Texans continue to lean toward Republican candidates, as they have for many years, but Democrats still have time to make these elections competitive.”

The poll also found that:

• Two-fifths (40%) of Republican primary voters say that they would never vote for George P. Bush.  Two-thirds (66%) of these Republicans say a reason they would never vote for him is that he is a member of the Bush family.  The next most common reasons are his oversight of the Alamo (42%) and that he is not conservative enough (41%).

• Nine out of 10 (88%) March GOP attorney general primary voters who cast a ballot for fourth-place finisher Louie Gohmert intend to vote for Paxton in the May runoff and 9% for Bush. Supporters of third-place finisher Eva Guzman are more divided, 35% intending to vote for Bush, 28% for Paxton and 37% still undecided.

• In a November generic U.S. House ballot, the Republican candidate leads the Democratic candidate by a 7% margin (49% to 42%) among likely voters and by a 12% margin (52% to 40%) among the almost certain voters.

• Hispanic likely voters prefer O’Rourke over Abbott by a 14% margin (53% to 39%). Abbott leads among White likely voters and O’Rourke leads among Black likely voters.

“Hispanics continue to be a vital component of the Texas electorate.  Based on these early numbers, it is clear that the Latino vote in Texas will be determinative this November,” said Jason Villalba, CEO of the TxHPF. “If Democrats intend to win the Governor’s race or other statewide elections this November, they are going to have to significantly increase their advantage among Hispanic voters. If Republicans are successful in continuing to narrow the gap among Hispanic voters, they will be nearly impossible to beat in November.”

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About the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation
The Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation operates as a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated and committed to analyzing and exploring the political, economic, social, demographic, and familial attitudes and behaviors of Texas Hispanics. The Foundation conducts surveys, polls, research, data collection and analysis concerning the Hispanic population in Texas. You can find more information about the Foundation at www.TxHPF.org.

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