The recently released Texas Lyceum Poll shows Donald Trump leading Hillary Clinton in Texas by just 7 points. That puts Clinton closer to the leading candidate than any Democratic presidential candidate running in Texas for decades.
Joshua Blank is the manager of polling and research for the recent Lyceum poll and the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas Austin.
He talked with Texas Public Radio’s Shelley Kofler about one big issue that may be driving the numbers- immigration.
Blank said some of the poll findings may appear surprising given Texas’ conservative base of voters. In his interview with TPR, Blank explained why strong sentiments on some hot-button issues produced the following results.
· A majority of Texans (59 percent) oppose GOP nominee Donald Trump’s proposal to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to try to stop illegal immigration.
· Texans continue to believe that immigration is the number one issue facing the state, but a plurality of Texas adults (45 percent) also say that immigration helps the U.S. more than it hurts.
· Texas adults oppose (51 percent) a ban on immigration from countries with a history of terrorism against the West.
Detailed results from the 2016 Texas Lyceum Poll are on the organization’s website.
