A new poll shows the race for Texas governor puts Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott 8 points ahead of his expected Democratic rival, state Sen. Wendy Davis — though half of voters don’t know who’ll they support,
The Washington Post reports.
Abbott leads Davis – who’s expected to
announce her candidacy Thursday — 29 percent to 21 percent in the poll conducted for Texas Lyceum, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group, and released Tuesday. Abbott already has announced he is running in the open race.
"At this very early stage 'don’t know' comes out way ahead of both with 50 percent of the registered voters polled between Sept. 6–Sept. 20," the survey noted.
Among women, Abbott and Davis – who rocketed into national headlines in June with her filibuster against abortion restrictions — are in a statistical tie, 25 percent to 23 percent, with Abbott holding a lead over Davis that is within the poll’s 3.47 point margin of error, the survey showed.
Fifty-one percent of women are undecided on the Abbott-Davis matchup.
The Washington Post noted given the strong Republican tilt in Texas, Abbott's fundraising strength and his support from conservatives, he begins the race as a substantial front-runner. Texas has not elected a Democrat to statewide office in two decades.
In the days after the filibuster, Davis quickly raised about $1 million, but Abbott has a monumental lead in fundraising with a war chest of nearly $25 million.
Reuters contributed to this report