Poll: Gov. Greg Abbott Dominates in Texas Primary, Leads Beto O’Rourke in General Election Matchup

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference where he provided an update to Texa
Eric Gay/AP Photo
Hannah Knudsen

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is dominating in the Texas Republican gubernatorial primary and trumping potential Democrat challenger Beto O’Rourke, recent polls show.

A number of polls show Abbott leading in the Texas Republican primary, which is about one month away. The YouGovAmerica/UTAustin survey shows Abbott leading former Texas GOP chair Allen West 58 percent to 11 percent:

“These results suggest at the present time Abbott is very well‐positioned to win the Republican Party primary in the first round, with potentially more than two‐thirds of the vote,” the survey concluded, adding that “82% of all Republican primary voters and 86% of almost certain Republican primary voters indicated they would consider voting for Abbott in the Republican Primary compared to only 13% and 11% respectively who indicated they would never consider voting for Abbott.”

A survey from the Dallas Morning News/UT Tyler offered similar results, showing the Texas governor besting West, who came in second place, by 53 percentage points:

That survey showed Abbott with an approval rating of 51 percent, and of those, 22 percent “strongly” approve of his job performance.

On the other side Beto O’Rourke, both a former congressman and former Democrat presidential candidate, leads the Democrat primary with 58 percent support. No other candidate comes close, with Michael Cooper garnering six percent support. However, over a quarter of Democrat primary voters, 27 percent, said they are not sure who they would vote for.

Head to head, Abbott leads the radical left-wing gubernatorial hopeful 47 percent to O’Rourke’s 36 percent, as 16 percent indicated they would vote for someone else.

That particular survey, taken January 18-25, 2022, among 1,082 registered voters, has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

This month, O’Rourke revealed his campaign raised $7.2 million since its launch in November. Nonetheless, Abbott has a massive war chest of over $65 million on hand, raking in $19 million from July to December in 2021 alone.

One of the hallmarks of O’Rourke’s failed political bids — from his failed Senate bid against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in 2018 to his most recent Democrat presidential primary run — was his desire to tread on Americans’ Second Amendment rights — a pitch he is sticking to. 

“We should not allow our fellow Americans to own and use weapons that were originally designed for battlefield use that AR-15, that AK-47 has one single solitary purpose and that is killing people as effectively, as efficiently and great a number in as little time as possible,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash, essentially doubling down on his position in November.

Abbott, meanwhile, has welcomed O’Rourke’s challenge, suggesting his positions will to be tolerated by the people of Texas: 

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