DALLAS — With one week to go to Election Day, the latest statewide poll suggests that although Beto O'Rourke and Gov. Greg Abbott continue to fundraise at a breakneck pace, the major races aren't necessarily close.
The most recent poll by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston finds Republican candidates leading all statewide races by double digits. The survey of 1,200 likely voters shows Abbott with 53% support to Democrat Beto O'Rourke's 40%, with just 4% undecided.
O'Rourke's campaign announced it raised $10.5 million from more than 237,500 contributors in just 30 days. Abbott's campaign trumpeted a "stalwart fundraising report," collecting nearly $9 million in the latest 30 days reporting period, including donations from nearly 30,000 contributors.
"I'm grateful for everyone who helped raise $10.5 million in just 30 days as we support the Get Out the Vote work of our organizers and record-breaking 100,000 volunteers," said O'Rourke. "We're receiving support from those in every part of this state who are ready to turn the page on Greg Abbott's failures and vote for change after eight years of this governor putting his extreme agenda over the people of Texas."
"With the end of this campaign in sight, we have the resources we need to show Texans the clear contrast between Governor Greg Abbott's vision for a successful Texas and Beto O'Rourke's radical leftist orthodoxy," said Gardner Pate, Texans for Greg Abbott campaign chairman.
The final week of campaigning began with Abbott making stops on Tuesday in Fort Worth, Amarillo and El Paso. O'Rourke had four scheduled stops Tuesday in San Benito, Brownsville and Harlingen.
But, the good and bad news for each campaign Tuesday came from Houston.
"I am extremely confident when I say that Republicans are going to win all the statewide races, barring something extreme happening over the next week," said Mark Jones, senior research associate at the Hobby School and political science fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
The same poll shows Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick with a 15% lead over Democrat Mike Collier, with 10% undecided, and Attorney General Ken Paxton with a 12% lead over Democrat challenger Rochelle Garza, with 11% undecided.
"If the election results reflect the survey results then we are going to see another statewide Republican sweep, which has occurred every election year since 1996," added Jones. "The only real question left is what the margin of victory of the Republican candidates is going to be."
The Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston says the poll, conducted Oct. 19-26 with 1,200 likely Texas voters completing an online survey in either English or Spanish, has a margin of error of +/-2.8%.