Conversely, 57% of all Texas likely voters and 58% of Texas Hispanic likely voters oppose Governor Abbott’s plan to use public tax dollars to help subsidize private school tuition.

Further, Texans are split between a narrow majority (56%) who believe abortion should be legal through either 12 (29%) or 23-24 (27%) weeks of pregnancy and those (44%) who believe it should be illegal unless the mother’s life is at risk (15%) or also if the pregnancy was due to rape or incest (29%).

(Dallas, Texas, April 24, 2024) — Gov. Greg Abbott receives high marks from Texans regarding border security with fully 54% of all Texas likely voters approving his handling of the situation at the United States-Mexico border, according to new polling from the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation (TxHPF). Likewise, Hispanic Texas likely voters support Gov. Abbott’s border security policies by similar margins, though less than a majority at 47%.

Gov. Abbott’s hallmark education policy, using public tax dollars to provide subsidies to Texas parents whose children attend private school, does not fare as well, with 57% of all Texas likely voters in opposition to the use of public tax dollars for private tuition.  Hispanic likely voters oppose the “voucher” plan by 58% and African American likely voters oppose the plan by 68%.      

The survey, which was conducted between April 5 and April 10 among a representative sample of 1,600 Texas likely voters, has an overall margin of error of 2.45%.  

Solely with respect to the Hispanic oversample, the survey maintains a margin of error of 4.88%, making the TxHPF’s Hispanic data, the most detailed in Texas.

“With respect to border security, Gov. Abbott has his hand squarely on the pulse of what Texas voters want.  From busing immigrants to other states, to supporting high levels of spending on border security, these numbers show that all Texans, including Hispanics, support Governor Abbott’s muscular policies on these issues,” said Jason Villalba, Chairman and CEO of the TXHPF.  “In stark contrast however, Governor Abbott’s top education priority, which provides for using public tax dollars to subsidize private school tuition, is universally opposed by Texans from all segments: urban or rural, Anglo or Hispanic, male and female. This issue will not win him new votes in a general election, and it could cut into his support among primary voters,” continued Villalba.          

Mark P. Jones, the TxHPF’s Chief Information and Analytics Officer and the Fellow in Political Science at Rice University’s Baker Institute noted that “61% of likely voters support Governor Abbott’s policy of spending $3.5 billion annually on border security, including 86% of Republicans, 64% of Independents and 33% of Democrats, as well as 58% of Hispanics.”

Jones also noted the existence of a sharp partisan split in regard to abortion policy in Texas, commenting that “76% of Republicans want abortion be illegal except when the woman’s life is at risk or when the woman’s life is at risk or in the case of rape or incest, while 90% of Democrats want abortion to be legal through either 12 or 23-24 weeks of pregnancy.”

And, in regard to the Hispanic community, Jones commented that “contrary to some conventional wisdom, two-thirds of Hispanic Catholics prefer an abortion policy which allows for abortions to take place through at least 12 weeks of pregnancy, with Hispanic opposition to abortion  concentrated among the state’s growing population of Born-Again Christian Hispanics, two-thirds of whom want abortion restricted at the most to instances where the woman’s life is at risk or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

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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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