In a year with legitimate political discussion of Texas turning from tradition to vote Democratic, the results are in and, unsurprisingly, most Texans still lean conservative.
The Texas Tech University Earl Survey Research Lab (ESRL) released on Monday (Nov. 7) the results of its statewide survey of registered voters on the 2016 election and policy preferences.
From Oct. 11 to Nov. 3, undergraduate students conducted interviews as part of a project in two classes: Political Analysis and Environmental Law, taught by Jared Perkins, and Introduction to American Government, taught by Sara Norman. The margin of error is +/- 4.2 at the 95 percent confidence level.
The survey found:
- A majority of Texas registered voters support Donald Trump (50 percent) for president. Hillary Clinton follows at 34 percent. Gary Johnson has 5 percent support and Jill Stein has 2 percent.
- The state of Texas is split on Donald Trump’s policy to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country: 47 percent support the policy and 45 percent do not.
- Respondents are evenly divided on Donald Trump’s policy to build a wall between the United States and Mexico: 48 percent approve this policy and 48 percent do not.
- According to Texas respondents, 80 percent believe Hillary Clinton’s email investigation makes her less trustworthy, while 8 percent believe it makes her more trustworthy.
- Forty-two percent of the respondents support Hillary Clinton’s plan to make college debt-free for public universities, while 54 percent do not support this policy.
- When asked their approval for the way Ted Cruz is handling his job as United States senator for Texas, 44 percent of the respondents approve, 36 percent of the respondents disapprove, and 18 percent of the respondents indicated “Don’t know.”
- Among Republican voters who are aware Ted Cruz can be challenged for his seat in the U.S. Senate in the Republican primary election of 2018, 23 percent of respondents indicated they would vote for that challenger and 30 percent indicated they would not vote for that challenger. 47 percent of the respondents said they “Don’t know.”
- Forty-four percent of the respondents believe Judge Merrick Garland should be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, while 46 percent of the respondents do not believe he should be confirmed.
- According to registered voters in Texas, 65 percent support Greg Abbott’s decision to deny refugees entrance into the state of Texas, and 31 percent do not support this policy.
- Seventy-seven percent of the respondents support a Muslim woman’s right to wear a hijab that covers her head, while 18 percent do not.
- A large majority (67 percent) believe citizens should have the right to ban fracking for natural gas in their city limits, while 16 percent of the respondents do not.
- According to the poll, 35 percent of the respondents think transgender students in public schools have the right to use bathrooms matching their identity. 52 percent of the respondents do not support this policy.
- The state of Texas is divided on the policy of transgender people having the right to use public bathrooms matching their gender identity: 44 percent of the respondents support this policy issue and 48 percent do not.
- Finally, 59 percent of the respondents approve of the bill passed by the Texas Legislature that allows people with concealed handgun licenses to carry guns into some college buildings and classrooms; 37 percent of the respondents
For further analysis of this survey and other ESRL administered surveys, see the ESRL blog.
(News release from Texas Tech University)