Texas Gov. Greg Abbott continues to expand his lead over Democratic opponent Beto O’Rourke less than a month from the midterm elections, now boasting a double-digit lead.
A poll from The Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin shows the Republican incumbent leading O’Rourke by 11 percentage points, 54% to 43%, among likely voters.
In a similar poll last month, Abbott held only a five-point lead with registered voters. It also showed a majority of Texans, 52%, supporting the governor's transportation of migrants.
Abbott's widening advantage appears to come from his support among independents. According to the survey, 60% backed the governor, while only 29% supported the former El Paso-area congressman.
The two candidates are also tied with Hispanic voters at 48%. In Abbott's 2018 second-term victory, he won only 42% of the Hispanic vote. Still, O’Rourke maintains the support of most of the state's Black voters at 86%.
The poll comes at the heels of O'Rourke revealing earlier this month that he slightly outraised Abbott from July through late September, hauling in $25.18 million compared to Abbott's nearly $25 million over the same period, The Texas Tribune reported.
"I'm grateful for everyone who helped raise $25.18 million in just three months as we support the work of our organizers and record-breaking 100,000 volunteers," the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate stated.
But Abbott's team shot back, noting that a more significant percentage of their earnings are from in-state donors than O'Rourke's campaign.
"Gov. Abbott's campaign is proud that the vast majority of his support comes from within Texas and not from out-of-state liberals like George Soros or from shady dark money groups hiding their donors from public disclosure," said Abbott campaign chair Gardner Pate.
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