New UT poll shows Abbott leads O’Rourke by five points

AUSTIN, Texas (KWTX) - The latest poll from the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project shows Governor Greg Abbott leading over Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke in a 45%-40% lead.

The poll surveyed 1200 self-declared registered voters using the internet August 28-September 6 and has a margin of error of +/- 2.83%, according to the study.

Apart from the two major parties, Green Party Candidate Delilah Barrios and the Libertarian Party’s Mark Tippets each earned 2% support; 3% preferred an unspecified “someone else,” and 8% were undecided.

“The poll results illuminate an election environment in which the Abbott/O’Rourke match-up is the most competitive race for the office Texas has seen in decades,” said the study.

Within the results, Gov. Abbott’s sustained effort to keep Republican voters focused on immigration and border security as political issues while O’Rourke emphasis on abortion rights in his campaign media.

“But the governor’s sustained provocations on immigration and border security resonate even more intensely and broadly with Texas Republicans’ well-documented, deeply negative attitudes about immigration,” said Jim Henson and Joshua Blank in the study.