Michael Karlis (left) and Instagram / Greg Abbott (right)
Democrat challenger Beto O'Rourke trails Gov. Greg Abbott in the latest poll despite raising slightly more funds than the Republican incumbent.
According to the latest poll from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, the Republican governor leads O'Rourke by 11 points among likely voters. Abbott had a much smaller lead of only 5 points in the last UT poll conducted in September.
However, Abbott's double-digit lead comes as a majority of Texas' likely voters said they think the state is headed in the wrong direction.
UT's latest poll may give a more accurate picture of the Lone Star State's gubernatorial race than prior ones since it only includes likely voters. Past polls included all registered voters. Also, just 7% of those polled this time around said they were somewhat or very likely to switch their preference.
The most pressing issues among likely voters, according to the poll, are border security and immigration — an issue in which Abbott polled well. Around 54% of those polled said they supported the governor's controversial migrant busing policy.
Although the poll shows Abbott holding a commanding lead heading into the midterms, a majority of Texans polled — 50% — said the state is headed in the wrong direction. Only 37% said it's on the right track.
Despite concerns over Texas' direction, other Republican incumbents up for reelection — including Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Comptroller Glenn Hegar — also enjoyed double-digit leads over the Democrat challengers, according to UT's poll.
The online poll surveyed 1,200 registered voters from Oct. 7-17.
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