Economy, immigration top issues among Texas voters
A new Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media survey of Texas likely voters finds the U.S. Senate race in a dead heat: 47% support Republican Ken Paxton, while 46% support Democrat James Talarico. Five percent are undecided, and 2% support someone else.
“The race for U.S. Senate in Texas is sharply divided by age: voters under 50 favor Talarico by 15 points, 53% to 38%, while those over 50 break for Paxton by 11 points, 53% to 42%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
In the race for Governor, 49% support Republican Greg Abbott, while 45% support Democrat Gina Hinojosa. Four percent are undecided.
Governor Abbott holds a 46% job approval rating, while 49% disapprove of the Governor. President Donald Trump holds a 47% job approval rating, while 48% disapprove of the President.
“Majorities of Texas Hispanic voters are dissatisfied with their federal and state executives: 58% of Hispanic voters disapprove of President Trump and 57% of Governor Abbott,” Kimball noted. “This demographic also breaks for the Democrat on the ballot, by 19 for Talarico and 17 for Hinojosa.”
Similar to his job approval, Governor Abbott’s favorable rating is at 48%, while 46% have an unfavorable view of the Governor. Talarico has a 44% favorable rating, and 41% unfavorable. Opinion on Paxton is split: 43% favorable and 44% unfavorable. Hinojosa has a 40% favorable rating and 27% unfavorable, while 33% of Texas voters are neutral or have not heard of her.
Forty-three percent think Texas is on the right track, while 48% think the state is headed in the wrong direction.
Top issues for Texas voters include the economy (30%), immigration (19%), threats to democracy (14%), and healthcare (13%). Republican voters find immigration to be the top issue (32%), while Democrats (33%) and independents’ (31%) top issue is the economy. Equal shares of Democrats, Republicans, and independents say threats to democracy is the top issue (14%).
A majority of Texas voters, 60%, oppose data centers being built in or near their community, while 33% support them. Eight percent are neutral.
Voters were asked which statement comes closer to their view on state legislators: that state legislators have the interest of the general public at heart, or that they have their own financial interests at heart. A majority of voters (71%) think they have their own financial interests at heart, while 29% think they have the interests of the general public at heart.
83% of Democrats, 82% of independents, and 59% of Republicans say state legislators have their own financial interests at heart.
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling Texas survey was conducted August 9-10, 2026. The sample of likely voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percent. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
Data was collected by contacting registered voters from a voter file provided by Aristotle using MMS text-to-web and a probability-based panel of voters provided by Consensus Strategies using MMS text-to-web. Additional panel interviews were provided by PureSpectrum. The survey was hosted on QuestionPro.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
All respondents were recruited using customized links that prevent responses from anyone outside of the poll’s sample frame. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with exact wording and order, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found below.