A new Rasmussen poll has just come out. Its top line is big, though not surprising: The Texas governor’s race is not close.
Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) has an 11-point lead over challenger state Sen. Wendy Davis (D). Abbott leads 51-40. Texans trust Abbott more on all of the key issues — government spending, taxes, social issues and government ethics/corruption.
Abbott’s lead increases among likely voters.
Among the 82% of voters who say they will definitely vote in this election, Abbott leads 53% to 41%.
Abbott and Davis each hold the support of 82% of their party’s supporters. But Abbott leads independents by 15 points.
Other news in the poll is just as good for Abbott, and bad for Davis.
Both candidates are well known in the state, but Abbott is the better liked of the two. He is viewed favorably by 57% and unfavorably by 35%. This includes 28% with a Very Favorable opinion and 18% with a Very Unfavorable one.
For Davis, favorables are 44% and unfavorables 46%. This includes 23% with a Very Favorable view of her and 33% with a Very Unfavorable one.
For a challenger to be underwater on favorability a month out from the election is fatal. Davis has little time to make that up, and the swarm of news stories that are currently flooding the zone leave little air for her to get any traction or any effective earned media. Besides that, she is already a known quantity. Her unfavorables explain why she has used her debate opportunities to trash Abbott. With little time to build herself up, her sole remaining opportunity is to destroy him.
The coup de grace:
The GOP candidate [Abbott] has double-digit leads among both men and women in Texas.
To finally stick a fork in this, Rasmussen has reclassified Texas from “Leans Republican” to “Safe Republican.”
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