Texas polls: Some voters sour on Trump policies

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(The Center Square) – Ahead of the first midterm Republican Party Convention being held in Dallas this week, a new poll among likely Texas voters indicates they don’t think it will have as positive of an influence on election outcomes in November as Republican strategists have hoped. 

The poll also found similar findings as previous polls: Texas voters have soured on President Donald Trump and his some of his policies. 

According to an Overton Insights/Texas Public Policy Foundation poll, the majority of Texas voters polled, 55.4%, said the convention will have an impact; 44.6% said it will have little to no impact at all, on the midterm elections.

Regardless of the level of impact, the impact isn’t positive, the poll found. 

A majority of Texas voters polled disapprove of Trump’s job performance, 55.8%, with 48.5% strongly disapproving. This includes 26.2% of Republicans polled.

When it comes to Trump policies, the president doesn’t fare much better. Large percentages of Texas voters, including Republicans, don’t support his policies on tariffs, immigration and data center expansion.

More Texas voters oppose Trump tariff policies, 54.1%, than those who support them, 45.9%, according to the poll. 

Trump’s tariff policies have negatively impacted the Texas oil and gas industry, which has reported job losses for four consecutive months in the upstream sector, indicating a worrying trend, those in the industry have said, The Center Square reported. 

This is largely due to increased costs associated with tariffs, as well as the conflict with Iran, which the majority of voters oppose. Trump advocating Venezuelan crude production has drawn the ire among some in the industry. For most of Trump’s second term, rig counts have been down in the U.S. and in the Permian Basin in west Texas. 

As oil hit $120 a barrel in March, Trump policies had created significant damage to the industry, Texas industry leaders said, The Center Square reported.

Despite Texas voters having supported Trump’s border security policies and voting for him in the last three elections, many increasingly don’t support his immigration policies, with an equal number who support them, 49.7% and oppose them, 49.8%, according to the poll. 

Under Trump, more Americans and noncitizens have been shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, including in Texas, than in previous administrations, The Center Square reported. Even Gov. Greg Abbott has weighed in, saying there has to be a better approach. He also directed a state investigation into an ICE shooting in Houston.

When it comes to data center expansion, the majority of Texas voters polled, 54%, support local bans on data center construction, with 44.3% strongly supporting local bans.

Opposition to data center expansion in Texas is statewide and across party lines, with rural Texas Republicans being among the loudest critics. 

Trump has attacked Americans opposing data center expansion, saying, “The only reason that communities throughout the USA should not want data centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor. If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let data reign.” 

He also said that “China cannot be happier with this anti data center movement.” This is after he touted multiple U.S. companies doing deals with China to advance artificial intelligence. Data center expansion is necessary to advance AI technology. 

Texas now leads the U.S. in data center development under Abbott, who is currently facing backlash over his previous support for expansion. He has since issued directives requiring companies to adhere to a range of policies in order to continue expansion, The Center Square reported.

The “Trump effect” could be impacting several congressional races, including in Texas border counties. Several Republicans are in tight races that were previously considered Republican leaning or strongholds. Now the races are either toss ups or Democrats are leading in polls, The Center Square reported.

Republicans previously believed to easily win reelection are in the closest races of their political careers, including Abbott. The Overton/TPPF poll has Abbott statistically tied with his Democratic opponent, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, The Center Square reported. 

The U.S. Senate race is also a toss-up as are other statewide races in Texas, according to polls conducted by the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project, Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University, Texas Public Opinion Research, University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, Cook Political Report, among several others.