Rick Perry Outpolls Greg Abbott in Latest UT/Texas Tribune Poll

Source: University of Texas at Austin

Amid insider talk of a potential 2014 Republican primary race between Gov. Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott, a large share of Republican primary voters view the governor favorably, while Abbott remains popular but still a comparatively less familiar figure among state Republicans, according to a new University of Texas at Austin/Texas Tribune poll.

Perry was viewed favorably by 72 percent of the self-identified Republicans polled and unfavorably by 13 percent, with 14 percent expressing no opinion. Abbott was viewed favorably by 48 percent and unfavorably by 7 percent of GOP respondents, with 45 percent offering no judgment of the three-term incumbent governor.

“Among those who have an opinion about Attorney General Abbott, the impressions are overwhelmingly favorable,” said James Henson, who directs the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin and is a co-director of the poll. “But we also see a large bloc of potential Republican primary voters for whom the attorney general is an undefined quantity. This contrasts with Governor Perry, who after 12 years as governor is by far the most widely recognized elected official in state government right now, and remains popular with a significant core of Republican supporters.”

The statewide poll, conducted Feb. 15-24, surveyed 1,200 registered Texas voters and had a margin of error of 2.83 percentage points. The Republican results reflect the responses of 549 self-identified Republicans and had a margin of error of 4.18 percentage points.

In an item that asked all respondents how they might vote if Perry were to run for governor again in 2014, without mentioning any specific opponent, 26 percent indicated they would vote for him, 36 percent said they would vote against him, and 33 percent said they would “wait and see” who would run against him.

Read more: http://www.utexas.edu/news/2013/03/04/rick-perry-outpolls-greg-abbott-in-latest-uttexas-tribune-poll/

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Oh just for the memories, Rick's "Strong" ad:



and a houston chronicle story: "Abbott threatens foreign election observers with arrest