The last time that Texas voters selected a Democrat to win its Electoral College votes was in 1976, for then-candidate Jimmy Carter. Since that time, the state has been seen as a reliably “red” one, a “gimme” that Republicans have relied on to help them in their pursuit for the highest office in the nation.
That reliability may be shaken come 2020.
A University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll released this week finds that Trump’s actions are making it difficult for voters in the Lone Star State to support his presidency. And on the issue of impeachment, more Texans than not say that House investigations are appropriate.
None of the Dem candidates lead Donald Trump in this new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, but all of them keep him well below 50 percent.
Not sure the state is a battleground yet, but the days of easy, double-digit GOP wins seem to be over.https://t.co/CnSTAOizyv pic.twitter.com/nZLCuHQZUL
— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) November 4, 2019
Just 42 percent say that an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s conduct isn’t justified, while 46 percent say that it is. What’s more, Texans are split on the issue of whether Trump should be removed from office: 43 percent say he should be impeached and removed, while 44 percent disagree, a finding that’s within the poll’s 2.83 percent margin of error.
The trending split attitudes of Texan voters continues on Trump’s approval rating. Forty-seven percent say they approve of Trump’s job as president so far, while 48 percent say they do not.
In head-to-head matchups, Trump still outperforms every top-tier Democrat that’s running with hopes to replace him, the poll found. Interestingly, however, the president is unable to garner a majority of support against any of those top-tier Dems — a sign that the state may be in play a year from now, depending on who the candidate might be or what actions Trump may take in the interim.