Texas Voter Poll: Here’s what our 5th poll revealed

This is a preview of our Texas 2036 newsletter about our 5th Texas Voter Poll results. To receive this weekly highlight of our work, sign up here.

New Release 🗳: 5th Texas Voter Poll

Setting the Scene: Originally launched in 2020, our biannual Texas Voter Poll assesses general attitudes about the state.

• It gauges public support for non-partisan policies and lays out a roadmap for state leaders to strengthen voter confidence and move Texas forward.

Cause for Concern: In our latest survey, 93% of Texas voters expressed concern about the state’s future—with 38% “extremely concerned,” 29% “very concerned” and 26% “somewhat concerned.”

• For Texas voters who said they were “extremely concerned,” the number has risen from 25% at this time last year to 38% today.

Silver Lining: Texas voters broadly support bold actions and sensible investments across critical policy areas, including education and workforce development, infrastructure, public safety, and health care affordability.

The Issues 🗣️: What Texas Voters Are Saying

Education and Workforce: There’s widespread support—87%—for annual reading and math tests to provide “apples-to-apples comparisons” of how local schools are performing relative to others in the state.

• Nearly 90% of Texas voters believe it is important for the state to focus on increasing the number of post-secondary credentials for high schoolers to ensure they graduate college- and career-ready.

Justice & Safety: While 68% of Texas voters said they trust local law enforcement …

• 83% participants shared that their confidence in law enforcement would increase if lawmakers made it harder to rehire officers who were previously fired for poor conduct.

Natural Resources and Infrastructure: A majority of Texas voters (82%) agreed that the state should increase investments to expand water supplies.

• Additionally, 84% supported the Texas Legislature creating a fund to help update the aging infrastructure.

Government Performance: By a 2-to-1 margin, Texas voters support increasing pay to attract talent for all state government positions, with 51% favoring an increase compared to 24% who oppose it.

Health Care: Nearly a third of Texas voters (31%) said they or someone in their household postponed or skipped medical treatment in recent years because they didn’t know what the costs might be.

• For mothers with kids, the number is higher at 49%.

Next Steps 🚶🏽: What Texas Voters Want

Show Support: Texas voters want these critical issues to be in the spotlight when the State Legislature convenes in January 2023.

Money Talks: Earlier this year, the Texas Comptroller estimated that the state will have a $27 billion general revenue surplus for the current biennium.

• When asked how they want this record surplus to be spent, Texas voters identified public education as the top priority, followed by the electric grid, property tax reduction and water infrastructure.

Texas 2036 Action: We plan to continue highlighting areas where Texans agree—and building civic demand for solutions on the priorities we share—to create a bright future for all.

Dive deeper: Texas Voter Poll results

Want to weigh in on these issues?

Share your positions on some of our Texas Voter Poll survey questions here!