Texas voters still regard the Lone Star State as a better place than much of the US to raise a family, but confidence in its future has fallen sharply, according to a new Texas 2036 poll.
About 68% of those surveyed said they were extremely or very concerned about the future of Texas — the highest level recorded across the organisation’s 10 voter polls since 2020.
Only 39% believed state leaders were taking the right steps to ensure Texas remained the best place to live, work and raise a family over the next 20 years. That compares with 53% who held the same view in 2020.
The concern cuts across party lines, although Democrats are more worried than Republicans. Some 85% of Democrats said they were extremely or very concerned about the state’s future, compared with 58% of Republicans — a 15-point rise among Republican voters compared with last year.
The findings come from interviews conducted between August 22 and 26 by Baselice & Associates for Texas 2036. The survey included 1,369 registered voters and had an effective sample size of 1,001, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Texas voters remain open to persuasion before November
Despite their concerns, voters remain broadly optimistic about the state’s economic prospects. Around 57% expect the Texas economy to outperform the rest of the country over the next four years, while 59.4% believe there will be good opportunities for people like them to use their skills, earn a living and progress in their careers.
However, only about half said they intended to vote exclusively for candidates from one political party. Around 26% planned to vote only for Republicans and 24% only for Democrats, while nearly two-thirds said they were still considering at least one choice on the November ballot.
About 21% described themselves as mostly or fully undecided. Texas 2036 identified 16.7% of voters as both unaffiliated and undecided, a group that includes people who are not committed partisans and have not settled on how they will vote.
Among those voters, 38% said they expected to support candidates from more than one party and 24% remained unsure how they would vote.
Education and household costs dominate voters’ priorities
The issues most likely to increase support for a candidate were largely focused on education, household bills and public infrastructure rather than party identity.
Some 84.8% said they would be more likely to support a candidate committed to ensuring students could read and do maths at grade level. Reducing healthcare prices was backed by 83.2%, while 82.6% favoured preparing high-school pupils for college or a career.
Reducing residential electricity bills would make 81.8% more likely to vote for a candidate, followed by building water infrastructure at 81.4% and reducing homeowners’ insurance costs at 79%.
Healthcare costs were the leading concern among unaffiliated and undecided voters. Some 83.5% said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate campaigning on reducing healthcare prices, while 80.9% said the same about lowering electricity bills.
The poll also found that 79.1% of Texas voters considered it extremely or very important for the state to prioritise water projects, highlighting the pressure placed on infrastructure by population growth and economic expansion.
Texas 2036 said the results showed broad agreement across party lines on practical issues, even as voters expressed growing doubts about the state’s long-term direction.
