Americans don’t trust Democrats anymore.
Beto O’Rourke, former U.S. Rep. and Democrat, announced his Texas gubernatorial bid last month. However, a recent poll by Quinnipiac University could dash the former rep’s dreams after revealing that registered Texas voters were unlikely to vote for him to be the next governor of the state.
If the two went head-to-head, the survey found 52% of voters would support Greg Abbott, while only 37% would vote for O’Rourke.
As it stands, Abbott was also taking the lead among independents, receiving 47%, 10 points more than O’Rourke’s 37%.
Discussing the possibility of O’Rourke defeating Abbott, Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy stated that compared the 15 point deficit to football, calling the latter more significant than “your typical two-touchdown deficit in football.” However, he added that since Texas was a big state with complex issues, there was plenty of time for O’Rourke to catch up before the gubernatorial elections on November 8, 2022.
The Quinnipiac University poll also revealed that 33% of registered Texas voters viewed the Texas-Mexico border as the most urgent matter the state was experiencing. The economy was second, with only 11% of respondents believing it was the most pressing matter facing the state.
Many who selected the southern border as a top concern were Republicans and independents. According to data from the poll, 58% of Republicans and 32% of independents chose the southern border, whereas only 3% of Democrats viewed the border as a top concern.
If Abbott won on November 8, it would be his third term as the governor of the Lone Star State.
O’Rourke, however, served six years – from 2013 to 2019 – in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also lost a bid for Senate to Senator Ted Cruz in 2018 before embarking on a presidential bid in 2019 that he would later drop out of.
