One in six Texas voters is both unaffiliated with a political party and undecided on how they plan to vote just weeks before the November general election, while only about half plan to vote exclusively for candidates from one party, according to Texas 2036’s 10th Texas Voter Poll released today.
The poll finds 16.7% of Texas voters meet Texas 2036’s definition of “Unaffiliated and Undecided,” meaning they are mostly or fully undecided about their choices in November and are not committed partisans based on their past voting behavior and views of the political parties.
Among this group, 38% say they expect to vote for a mix of candidates across parties, another 24% are unsure how they will vote, and only about one in seven currently plans to vote exclusively for one party.
The findings come as Texas voters overall show greater willingness to split their ballots. About half say they intend to vote exclusively for one party, with 26% planning to vote only for Republican candidates and 24% only for Democrats. Just 34% describe themselves as fully decided about their choices in November, while 37% are mostly decided and 21% are mostly or fully undecided.
“Even this close to Election Day, a meaningful share of Texas voters is still weighing choices across their ballots,” said John Hryhorchuk, senior vice president for policy and advocacy at Texas 2036. “Yet on many of the issues facing Texas, there is striking agreement, particularly around education outcomes, affordability, electricity and water.”
Source: Fall 2026 Texas Voter Poll, conducted August 22–26, 2026 by Baselice & Associates for Texas 2036 (weighted base: 1,001). Weighted percentages.
View underlying data table
| Group | Share of all Texas voters |
|---|---|
| Unaffiliated and Undecided | 16.7% |
| Unaffiliated, but settled on November | 33.2% |
| Committed partisans | 50.1% |
| All unaffiliated voters | 49.9% |
Consensus on education outcomes and affordability crosses party lines
The poll also tested voters’ reactions to 13 policy positions a candidate might hold, revealing broad agreement on several issues. Education outcomes and affordability dominate the issues most likely to earn voters’ support:
- Ensuring students read and do math at grade level: 85%
- Reducing healthcare prices: 83%
- Preparing high school graduates for college or a career: 83%
- Reducing electricity bills: 82%
- Building needed water infrastructure: 81%
- Reducing homeowners’ insurance costs: 79%
Unaffiliated and Undecided voters ranked those positions in largely the same order as the electorate overall. Childcare and public education funding ranked somewhat higher among them, while border security, crime and some affordability issues ranked lower. But none of those differences are large enough to distinguish clearly at this sample size.
“The voters who remain unaffiliated and undecided don’t appear to care about a fundamentally different set of issues,” said Dr. Tracy Ayrhart, vice president of data and research at Texas 2036. “What stands out is how much their priorities resemble those of the electorate overall.”
Source: Fall 2026 Texas Voter Poll, conducted August 22–26, 2026 by Baselice & Associates for Texas 2036 (weighted base: 1,001). Weighted percentages.
Items are Q10–Q22: “How much more or less likely would you be to vote for a candidate who supports [each position]?” The base is all voters; the remainder of each row said the position would make them less likely to vote for the candidate, makes no difference, or that they were unsure.
View underlying data table
| Position | Much more likely | Somewhat more likely | Total more likely | Net (more − less likely) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ensuring all Texas students can read and do math at grade level | 64 | 20.8 | 84.8% | +79.3 |
| Reducing healthcare prices | 60 | 23.2 | 83.2% | +75.5 |
| Ensuring Texas high school students graduate ready for college or a career | 56 | 26.6 | 82.6% | +75.6 |
| Reducing the price of residential electricity bills | 56 | 25.8 | 81.8% | +74.8 |
| Building needed water infrastructure | 53 | 28.4 | 81.4% | +73.4 |
| Reducing homeowner’s insurance costs | 53 | 26.0 | 79.0% | +71.9 |
| Reducing property taxes | 55 | 22.2 | 77.2% | +67.4 |
| Ensuring crime leads to arrests and prosecution | 51 | 24.7 | 75.7% | +66.4 |
| Funding community colleges to meet workforce needs | 41 | 33.2 | 74.2% | +63.3 |
| Increasing public education funding | 48 | 21.9 | 69.9% | +54.2 |
| Making the state’s childcare system more parent-friendly | 43 | 26.3 | 69.3% | +57.7 |
| Addressing border security | 44 | 17.5 | 61.5% | +38.5 |
| Evaluating the growth of data centers | 29 | 21.6 | 50.6% | +25.3 |
Concern about Texas’ future reaches record high
At the same time, concern about the future of Texas has reached a record high across the 10 Texas Voter Polls conducted since 2020.
About two-thirds, or 68%, say they are extremely or very concerned about the future of Texas, one of the highest percentages recorded by the Texas Voter Poll. That includes a record 85% of Democrats and 58% of Republicans, which represents a 15-percentage-point year-over-year increase among GOP voters.
Voters also are less confident than they were six years ago that Texas is preparing successfully for the future. In a split sample, 39% say the state is taking the proper actions today to ensure Texas will be the best state in which to live, work and raise a family in 20 years. This trails the 53% on a similar question in 2020.
Source: Texas 2036 Texas Voter Poll, ten waves, February 2020–August 2026, conducted by Baselice & Associates for Texas 2036. Fall 2026 wave conducted August 22–26, 2026 (weighted base: 1,001). Weighted percentages. Lines show the “Extremely concerned” and “Very concerned” shares combined, rounded to whole numbers.
View underlying data table
| Wave | All voters | Republicans | Independents | Democrats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2020 | 31% | 25% | 26% | 41% |
| Jan 2021 | 47% | 44% | 44% | 52% |
| Nov 2021 | 58% | 59% | 51% | 62% |
| Jan 2022 | 55% | 51% | 50% | 62% |
| Sep 2022 | 67% | 63% | 62% | 75% |
| Feb 2023 | 61% | 55% | 57% | 72% |
| Aug 2023 | 65% | 60% | 65% | 71% |
| Dec 2024 | 54% | 40% | 51% | 72% |
| Sep 2025 | 59% | 43% | 55% | 81% |
| Aug 2026 | 68% | 58% | 61% | 85% |
Overall, 57% of voters expect the Texas economy to outperform the rest of the country over the next four years, but views differ considerably by party. Nearly 80% of Republicans expect Texas to have a stronger economy than the nation over the next four years, compared with 32% of Democrats.
“Even in a polarized political environment, this poll confirms something we hear from Texans in every part of the state: there is real common ground on the challenges that will define our future,” said David Leebron, president and CEO of Texas 2036. “Texans across the political spectrum want students reading and doing math at grade level, healthcare they can afford, and the water and electricity infrastructure a growing state requires. Those broad areas of agreement give us a roadmap to guide the conversations and policy priorities needed to help ensure Texas remains the best place to live, work and raise a family in the decades to come.”
Full results and analysis from the 10th Texas Voter Poll are available at texas2036.org/pollingdata/.
The 10th Texas Voter Poll: conducted Aug. 22-26, 2026, by Baselice & Associates for Texas 2036, consisting of 1,369 completed interviews with registered Texas voters. Results weighted to represent registered Texas voters statewide, with an effective sample size after weighting of 1,001. The margin of sampling error: ±3.1 percentage points.
