TYLER \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2024\/05\/uttyler-stacked-225x174.jpg\")
Ahead of a televised debate this week, former President Donald Trump holds an 8% advantage with a sample of registered Texas voters when voters consider candidates on the ballot, according to the latest survey by The University of Texas at Tyler Center for Opinion Research. The advantage is 6%, with likely voters on the assumption this is a high turnout election like four years ago.<\/p>\n
As a head-to-head contest, the share of the electorate that supports Donald Trump and Joe Biden is statistically the same as UT Tyler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s previous poll before the March primaries, according to Dr. Ken
\nWink, UT Tyler professor and poll director. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If the debate affects the race, it could come from the absence of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Support for the Kennedy\/Shanahan Campaign in Texas has lagged
\nnational trends, despite acute attention surrounding the selected running mate, Nicole Shanahan, and not securing the nomination of the Libertarian Party,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wink said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Absence from this debate
\nmeans Kennedy will not be able to present himself as a clear alternative to the major party nominees on the issues that matter to voters.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The top issue among voters in Texas continues to be securing the border, with 38% of registered voters listing it as the most important issue facing Texas. Both candidates have a topic that is
\npopular with most voters. Wink noted that a small majority of registered voters in Texas (52%) believe a border wall is necessary, but a larger share of Texas voters support President Biden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s
\nrecent executive order to limit the amount of asylum claims that are processed (59%). Survey respondents indicated higher satisfaction with how Gov. Greg Abbott is handling immigration (53%)
\nthan President Biden on the same issue (30%). \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Debating these issues at the forefront of a campaign can also shape public support for issues that are somewhat similar like Deferred Action
\nfor Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Ten years after President Obama\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s executive order, support among Texans was the lowest since we started polling about the issue, at 41%,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wink added.
\nThe economy is another topic of concern for most voters and one the candidates will look to address in the debate, according to Wink. Inflation was the second most important policy listed by
\nrespondents to the survey, and 49% of respondents said higher prices have had a major impact on their household\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s current financial situation. Wink also noted that most Texans disapprove of how
\nPresident Joe Biden is handling the national economy (59%), while a majority approve of Gov. Abbott\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s handling of the Texas economy (53%). \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In thinking about the national economy, 24% of
\nTexas respondents think the economy has gotten somewhat worse, while 35% say it has gotten much worse, so these views about the economy are hurting President Biden with Texas voters,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nWink said.
\nThe candidates will also be able to differentiate themselves on the issue of abortion access, by discussing access to the abortion pill and a decision on May 31 by the Texas Supreme Court to
\nuphold the state\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s abortion ban. On this issue, Texas voters largely see this issue as a policy that may require federal legislation, Wink noted. Half of the survey respondents (50%) support a
\nnational law that would protect abortion access in each state, whereas 19% would like to see a ban in all states. Thirty-one percent of respondents favor the current practice of allowing each state to set its own abortion policy. Reponses, Wink noted, also show Texas voters are willing to support exceptions to abortion bans at different levels of pregnancy, with public support declining as the
\nexpected delivery date gets closer. <\/p>\n
Voter perceptions of Biden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Trump\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ability to be the commander-in-chief appear to be shaped by partisanship, Wink said. Eighty percent of voters who prefer the Democratic Party are confident
\nin Joe Biden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ability to lead the U.S. military, and only 14% of those Democratic voters have confidence in Donald Trump. Likewise, 85% of Republicans are confident in Donald Trump\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ability
\nto command the U.S. military, and only 12% trust President Biden. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Changing the perception of a candidate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leadership on the world stage may be a key to winning support from pure
\nindependents, many of whom shared they were not confident at all in President Biden (38%) or former President Trump (43%) to lead the U.S. military,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How this plays out could depend on which conflict voters are referencing. Thinking about the Russia-Ukraine War that began in February 2022, independent voters are mostly unsure, at 54%, about the best role of the United States, while Democratic voters approve of supporting Ukraine, 58%, and Republican voters believe the U.S. should have less involvement, at 65%,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wink said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153However, in the ongoing conflict in Gaza that began in October 2023, 48% of Texas voters agree the U.S. should provide aid to Israel. Support for U.S. engagement in Israel also varies along party lines \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Democrats at 39%, Republicans at 60%, Independents at 48%. It will be difficult for candidates to provide one clear message about foreign policy to attract voters.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d With so many issues to debate, it is not clear Donald Trump\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s felony conviction in New York on May 30, 2024, has shifted Texans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 vote intentions in November, Wink added. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Forty-five percent of likely voters said they were less likely to support Trump due to the conviction, but 54% said they were just as likely, at 30%, or more likely, at 24%, to support Trump. These numbers are very similar to what we found in our poll of registered voters in February, before the trial verdict,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TYLER \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ahead of a televised debate this week, former President Donald Trump holds an 8% advantage with a sample of registered Texas voters when voters consider candidates on the ballot, according to the latest survey by The University of Texas at Tyler Center for Opinion Research. The advantage is 6%, with likely voters on … Continue reading UT Tyler pre-debate poll<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":1334134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2024\/05\/uttyler-stacked-225x174.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"UT Tyler pre-debate poll","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1334117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 22:29:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2024\/05\/uttyler-stacked-225x174.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"UT Tyler pre-debate poll","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1334117"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1334148,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334117\/revisions\/1334148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1334134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1334117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1334117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1334117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}