Texas Governor Greg Abbott Leads Beto O’Rourke by 8 Points in Latest Poll

(Bloomberg) -- Texas Governor Greg Abbott had an eight-point lead on Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke, according to a new poll released seven months before the election.

Abbott has 50% support among likely voters versus 42% for O'Rourke, according to the survey released Tuesday by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation. The incumbent, seeking his third term in office, will face off against the former congressman from El Paso on Nov. 8.

Polls have shown a consistent lead for Abbott in the run-up to the vote. Still, the latest numbers showed less support for Abbott than he enjoyed in his last two elections -- in 2014, he got 59% of the vote and in 2018 took about 56%. Texas hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994.

“Abbott is en route to a third term and there probably isn't too much Beto can do about it,” said Mark Jones, political science professor at Rice University.

Abbott has campaigned on a track record of overseeing some of the nation's fastest economic growth, as well as his efforts to move the state further to the right on social issues such as abortion, transgender care and racial relations. O'Rourke has focused on what he calls more practical issues, such as education, health care and shoring up the electric grid after a severe winter storm in 2021 resulted in blackouts that left hundreds of people dead.

The poll also shows Attorney General Ken Paxton well ahead of his opponent George P. Bush in the Republican primary runoff slated for next month, with a 42-point advantage. In a poll for the Democratic primary run off for attorney general, Rochelle Garza leads Joe Jaworski by 15 points.

The Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation conducted an online survey of 1,435 registered voters in Texas between March 18 and March 28. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.