Only one-third of Texas voters approve of the GOP-led effort to redraw the state鈥檚 congressional map, according to a recent statewide poll, which found that independent and Democratic voters overwhelmingly opposed the mid-decade redistricting and would rather give control of Texas鈥� political maps to an appointed commission.
Just 13% of independent voters approve of state lawmakers redrawing the congressional map, while 41% are against it, according to released Tuesday by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Overall, 34% of voters said they approved and 41% said they disapproved of the effort, with nearly two-thirds of Republicans voicing support.
The new map, by Gov. on Aug. 29, aims to net five GOP seats in the 2026 midterms. The poll surveyed 1,200 voters across Texas between Aug. 22 and Sept. 1, going into the field just before lawmakers .
Attitudes on Trump鈥檚 megabill
The Texas Politics Project poll also measured where Texas voters stand on a range of other issues, including the approved earlier this summer. The majority of Democrats and independents have decidedly negative opinions about the legislation, fueling its underwater rating 鈥� 32% approval vs. 45% disapproval 鈥� among statewide voters.
Republicans polled had more favorable views. Sixty-five percent of GOP voters approve of President Donald Trump鈥檚 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with 28% expressing strong approval.
Few voters expect the megabill to actually lower their taxes and health care costs. Democrats and independents think the bill will increase how much they pay, according to the poll. Almost half of Republicans expect the bill to lower taxes, but just 21% said they anticipated lower health care costs.
Texans are also concerned about the rising prices of food and consumer goods, especially as the impacts of Trump's tariffs loom, the poll found. Only about a quarter of voters said their economic circumstances are better off now than they were a year ago.
Attitudes on THC and state marijuana laws
Voters said regulating THC products was the least important of the nine policy areas considered by the Texas Legislature this summer that were surveyed in the poll. More than 30% of voters said 鈥渃omprehensively regulating hemp-derived products without banning them鈥� is not important or not very important. Lawmakers gaveled out last week .
Almost half of voters want the state鈥檚 current marijuana laws to be made less strict and another 16% of voters want the laws to be left alone. The majority of Republicans also want current laws left alone or made less strict, according to the poll, finding that with Lt. Gov. 鈥檚 push to outlaw products containing any amounts of the psychoactive compound in marijuana known as tetrahydrocannabinol.
Favorability and approval of Senate candidates
The poll also assessed the favorability of candidates in next year鈥檚 high-profile U.S. Senate race, which has attracted nationwide attention over Attorney General 鈥檚 primary challenge against incumbent Sen. .
Paxton won the highest marks among Republican voters, with 55% saying they held a favorable view of the three-term attorney general, while 42% think favorably of Cornyn. showed Paxton and Cornyn in a close race, with Cornyn narrowing Paxton鈥檚 early lead.
Half of Republicans said they did not know enough to form an opinion of Rep. , R-Houston, who has been testing the waters of a Senate bid this summer. The National Republican Senate Committee 鈥� a powerful GOP fundraising group 鈥� urged Hunt last week to .
On the Democratic side, former Dallas congressman and NFL linebacker Colin Allred heads into his second straight Senate bid with 63% of his party鈥檚 voters viewing him favorably, compared to 12% who held the opposite view. Thirty-one percent of Democratic voters said they have a favorable view of state Rep. , who Tuesday, but more than 60% of polled Democrats did not know enough to have an opinion.
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