Texas voters are preparing for a consequential midterm election, with major statewide and congressional races taking shape amid concerns about the economy, immigration and the direction of the state.
A new survey from ReconMR offers a snapshot of the Texas electorate — what voters are worried about, how they view the candidates and which party may have momentum heading toward Election Day.
But what can the poll tell us — and what should we be careful not to read into it?
Lindsey Hendren is a senior researcher at ReconMR polling.
Diesel Prices
The war with Iran and the resulting blocking of the strait of Hormuz along with other developments in the Middle East now means fuel prices in Texas are much higher.
Right now, a major pain point is the price of diesel — which is at an all-time high.
Diesel is needed for agriculture production to run farm equipment but it’s also the fuel for America’s transportation backbone — trucking.
John Espnioza is the president and CEP of the Texas Trucking Association.
Data Center Politics
The ongoing debate over data centers in Texas could be a decisive factor in the upcoming governor’s race between Republican incumbent Greg Abbott and Democrat Gina Hinojosa.
As KERA’s Pablo Arauz Peña reports, some rural Texas voters who say they’ve voted Republican in the past are now “breaking rank” from the GOP because of the party’s response to rapid data center growth.
Non-citizen Voting
Texas and federal authorities have charged seven people with illegal voting or falsely claiming U.S. citizenship in connection to the 2018 and 2024 elections.
The announcement comes amid a broader Trump administration crackdown on noncitizen voting; an offense election experts say is real but extremely rare.
Texas officials have also referred 117 registered voters for further investigation, while confirming that nearly 600 others initially flagged as possible noncitizens are in fact citizens.
What do these cases prove and what don't they prove about the security of Texas elections?
Joining us is Natalia Contreras, a reporter covering voting and elections for VoteBeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune.
