• 94% of Biden voters and 92% of Trump voters say they are certain to vote for their candidate in November, with only 6% and 8% saying they might change their mind.
• 50% of Texas likely voters hold a favorable opinion of Trump (34% very favorable) and 49% hold an unfavorable opinion of Trump (43% very unfavorable).
• 44% of Texas likely voters hold a favorable opinion of Biden (24% very favorable) and 55% hold an unfavorable opinion of Biden (47% very unfavorable).
• 42% of Texas likely voters hold a favorable opinion of Kamala Harris (19% very favorable) and 56% hold an unfavorable opinion of Harris (47% very unfavorable).
• 23% of Texas likely voters identified immigration and border security as the most important issue influencing their presidential vote decision, followed by inflation (15%), the economy (15%) and the future of U.S. democracy (13%).

• 47% of likely voters list immigration and border security as among the top three issues influencing their presidential vote decision, followed by the economy (42%), inflation (40%), the future of U.S. democracy (26%) and abortion (23%).
• 51% of likely voters believe Trump is guilty of the charges for which he was recently convicted in a Manhattan court, including 93% of Biden voters, but only 10% of Trump voters.
• In the 2024 Texas U.S. Senate election, 47% of likely voters intend to vote for Republican Ted Cruz, 44% for Democrat Colin Allred and 3% for Libertarian Ted Brown, with 6% undecided.

• Cruz leads Allred among men, 50% to 42%, while Allred leads Cruz among women, 46% to 44%.
• Cruz leads Allred among white likely voters (55% to 38%), while Allred leads Cruz among Black likely voters (76% to 15%) and Latino likely voters (47% to 39%).
• 23% of Texas likely voters don’t know enough about Allred to have an opinion about him, compared to only 3% who don’t know enough about Cruz to have an opinion about him.
• 49% of likely voters have a favorable opinion of Cruz (27% very favorable), while 48% have an unfavorable opinion of Cruz (38% very unfavorable).
• 46% of likely voters have a favorable opinion of Allred (21% very favorable), while 31% have an unfavorable opinion of Allred (17% very unfavorable).
• In the 2024 race for Texas Railroad Commissioner, 41% of likely voters intend to vote for Republican Christi Craddick, 35% for Democrat Katherine Culbert, 3% for Libertarian Hawk Dunlap and 3% for the Green Party’s Eddie Espinoza, with 18% still undecided.
• Almost one-half (49%) of Texas likely voters believe things in Texas are off on the wrong track, while 43% believe they are going in the right direction.
• Almost two-thirds (65%) of Texas likely voters believe things in the United States are off on the wrong track, with 28% of the opinion that things in the United States are going in the right direction.

Read Report One to learn more about where likely Texas voters stand on the 2024 candidates and issues, including differences of opinion when considering gender, age, race/ethnicity and partisanship.

Media Release, July 11, 2024

Report Two. Texas Trends Survey: Outage Experiences and Preparedness in the Shadow of Hurricane Beryl

With two mass power outage events within two months and government officials and customers increasingly critical of CenterPoint, the debate about how to improve the resiliency of the power grid and distribution becomes more relevant. Researchers analyzed Texans’ past experiences with power outages caused by natural disasters and their preparedness for extreme weather events following Hurricane Beryl, highlighting critical lessons on the impacts of natural disasters and the future preparedness measures of Texans.

Highlights

• Many Texas households have experienced blackouts from numerous natural disasters in recent years, especially in the larger Houston metro area and coastal region, which were in the path of Hurricane Beryl.

• The most common preparedness measures by respondents include charging electronic devices (71%), purchasing essential supplies like water (66%) and non-perishable food (61%), purchasing emergency kits (58%), and filling gas tanks (55%). These percentages are higher than 60% for those respondents living along the Hurricane Beryl path.

• On average, each respondent from Houston, Austin, and San Antonio reported adopting 5, 4.9, and 4.7 different types of measures of preparedness, respectively. In contrast, respondents from Dallas reported an average of 4.1 measures.
• Overall, older respondents, those in the Silent or Boomer generations, took
  the most steps, while younger respondents were the least likely to take any steps
  in preparation for the 2024 hurricane season.

• While a substantial number of Texans take steps to prepare for hurricane seasons, significant gaps remain. Extreme weather events and natural disasters have led some Texans to purchase power generators. While this is a natural response for a household, especially for those who can afford the investment, the measure is far from optimal for the community. Researchers also identify a need for targeted interventions to bolster infrastructure resilience in high-risk areas.

Report Three. Texas Trends Survey: Favorability Evaluations

The third report of the 2024 Texas Trends survey focuses on favorability evaluations of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former president Donald Trump and other political figures among Texas likely voters.

Highlights

• 42% of likely Texas voters have a favorable opinion of Kamala Harris, while 56% hold an unfavorable opinion.
• 50% of likely Texas voters have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump, while 49% hold an unfavorable opinion.

• Among Texas women likely to vote, 47% have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump, while 44% hold a favorable opinion of Kamala Harris.
• Among Texas men likely to vote, 54% have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump, while 42% hold a favorable opinion of Kamala Harris.
• Among likely Generation Z voters in Texas, 50% hold a favorable opinion of Kamala Harris, while 43% have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump.

Read Report Three to learn more about the favorability evaluations of political figures among likely Texas voters, including differences of opinion when considering gender, age, race/ethnicity, education and partisanship.

Report Four. Texas Trends Survey: School Vouchers & Education Savings Accounts (ESAs)

The fourth report of the 2024 Texas Trends survey examines the support for and opposition to school voucher and educational savings account (ESA) legislative proposals as well as agreement and disagreement with the most common arguments made against and in favor of school voucher/ESA legislative proposals.

Highlights

• 65% of Texans support the adoption of legislation that would provide school vouchers to all parents in Texas, with 33% strongly supporting this legislation.

• 69% of Texans support the adoption of legislation that would create Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs) for all parents in Texas, with 30% strongly supporting this legislation.
• 59% of Texans support the adoption of legislation that would provide school vouchers only to low income parents in Texas, with 30% strongly supporting this legislation.
• 64% of Texans support the adoption of legislation that would create Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs) for low income parents only in Texas, with 32% strongly supporting this legislation.
• 66% of Texans agree (31% strongly) with the anti-voucher/ESA argument that vouchers/ESAs funnel money away from already struggling public schools.
• 63% of Texans agree (28% strongly) with the anti-voucher/ESA argument that vouchers/ESAs provide funding to private schools and individuals with only limited accountability for how the funds are used.
• 62% of Texans agree (29% strongly) with the anti-voucher/ESA argument vouchers/ESAs fail to accommodate disabled and special needs students, who public schools are required to accept while private schools are not.
• 55% of Texans agree (27% strongly) with the anti-voucher/ESA argument that voucher/ESA’s use of tax dollars to subsidize religious schools violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

Read Report Four to learn about where likely Texas voters stand on school vouchers and educational savings accounts, including differences of opinion when considering gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, partisanship, income, religion and other variables.

Media Release, July 29, 2024

Report Five. Texas Trends Survey: Housing

The fifth report of the 2024 Texas Trends survey examines public opinion related to several housing related issues, including evaluations of local housing affordability, support for policies to increase the amount of rental housing for low income and middle income Texans, and the degree and sources of financial strain placed on Texans by housing costs.

Highlights

• 90% of Texans consider housing affordability to be a problem in their part of Texas, with 44% considering it to be a big problem and 46% somewhat of a problem.

• 54% of Texans favor government policies intended to increase the amount of affordable housing for lower and middle income Texans, while 26% oppose these policies.
• 53% of Latino Texans and 50% of Black Texans believe that housing affordability is a big problem in their part of Texas, compared to 39% of white Texans.
• 68% of Texas Democrats and 46% of Texas Republicans favor government policies designed to increase the amount of affordable rental housing.
• 56% of Texans report that the cost of housing represents a source of financial strain for them and their family, with 38% identifying the cost of housing as a major source of strain and 18% identifying the cost of housing as a minor source of financial strain.
• Among Texas homeowners for whom housing costs create a financial strain, the proportion for whom the respective expense represents a major source of financial strain includes the following: utility bills (68%), homeowner insurance (61%), home maintenance (53%), mortgage payments (51%), school property taxes (50%), other local property taxes (50%), home renovations (43%), and HOA dues (21%).
• Among Texas renters for whom housing costs create a financial strain, the proportion for whom the respective expense represents a major source of financial strain includes rent (78%), utility bills (61%), and renter insurance (23%).

Read Report Five to learn about where likely Texas voters stand on housing related issues, including differences of opinion when considering gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, partisanship, income, region and housing status.

• Ted Cruz holds a 13 percentage point lead over Colin Allred among men (52% to 39%), while Allred holds a seven percentage point lead over Cruz among women (49% to 42%).
• 46% of Latino Texans intend to vote for Colin Allred, while 40% intend to vote for Ted Cruz.
• 58% of Generation Z intends to vote for Colin Allred, while 31% intend to vote for Ted Cruz.
• 49% of Texas likely voters have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump (35% very favorable), while 50% have an unfavorable opinion of the former president (44% very unfavorable).
• 48% of Texas likely voters have a favorable opinion of Kamala Harris (31% very favorable), while 51% have an unfavorable opinion of the Vice President (43% very unfavorable). In June, Harris’s net favorability rating (percentage favorable minus percentage unfavorable) was -14% compared to -3% in August.
• The net favorability ratings (percentage favorable minus percentage unfavorable) ranged from highs of 11% (Allred), 9% (Governor Greg Abbott) and 8% (Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick) to lows of -13% (Biden) and -3% (Harris), with Cruz (1%), Walz (1%), Vance (0%) and Trump (-1%) in between.

Read Report Seven to learn about where likely Texas voters stand on the 2024 candidates and officeholders, including differences of opinion when considering gender, age, race/ethnicity and partisanship.

Report Eight. Texas Trends Survey: Climate Change

Temperature perceptions impact climate change awareness, preparedness and coping strategies. Researchers compared how Texans felt in the summer of 2024 to the previous summer, learning that Texans are increasingly perceiving hotter summer temperatures. Those who are more vulnerable are disproportionally more affected by experiencing hotter temperatures. Similarly, those who have been more affected by blackouts because of major extreme weather events are feeling hotter summers.

Highlights

• In 2023, 75.8% of Texans believed the summer of 2023 was hotter than the previous summer. In 2024, 43.5% of Texans said the summer of 2024 was even hotter than the summer of 2023, and 45.2% said it was about the same.
• Among those who have not experienced blackouts in recent major extreme weather events, 37% think this summer is hotter than previous summers. This number changes to 47.5% for those who have experienced two or more blackouts.
• 7% of Hispanic respondents reported experiencing hotter temperatures compared to 51.2% of Blacks and 36.8% of Whites.
• Over half of the respondents belonging to the lower income bracket (52.7%) said they have experienced a hotter than usual summer, compared to 30.2% in the higher income bracket.
• Half of the respondents (50.4%) said they have heard of cooling centers before, 36.2% indicated they have not heard of them, 12.9% know someone who has used them before, and only 6.3% have personally used them.
• Regarding community changes, 37.5% of Texans believe that the number of people concerned about the risks of extreme weather events is increasing. About a third of Texans (33.6%) believe the number of people taking steps to protect homes from extreme weather is increasing. In comparison, about a fifth (20.4%) think the support for using tax money to protect the community from extreme weather is rising.

During or after a natural disaster, have you ever used or know someone who has used or heard about a colling center?

Read Report Eight to learn where Texans stand on climate perceptions and community coping strategies, including differences of opinion based on demographics and partisanship.

Media Release, August 28, 2024