Texans give generally high marks to election administration across the state, with 91% saying elections in their home county are well administered, dropping slightly to 90% for state elections and 85% for federal elections.
Key Findings
- Texans say election authorities do a good job of administering elections, with 91% saying local elections are well administered; 90% say the same about state elections and 85% say that about federal elections.
- More than two-thirds support a variety of proposed electoral reforms, including requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote (86%), banning taxpayer-funded lobbying by local governments (83%) and allowing online voter registration (70%).
- Texans are skeptical of government. Less than one out of five say they trust the federal government to do the right thing most of the time. And only 31% trust state government to do the right thing most of the time, with 32% saying that about their local county government.
- Gov. Greg Abbott is the most popular elected official in the state, with 56% of Texans reporting a favorable opinion; 55% and 53% said the same about President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, respectively.
Still, the latest survey from the Hobby School for Public Affairs at the University of Houston found solid support for a variety of proposed election reforms, from requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote to allowing online voter registration and banning taxpayer-funded lobbying by local governments.
The support for reforms was coupled with a deep distrust of government, especially the federal government. Less than one out of five Texans, or 19%, said they trust the federal government to do the right thing most of the time. Another 54% say they trust it to do the right thing some of the time, while more than one-quarter, 27%, said they never trust the federal government to do the right thing.
State and local governments fared somewhat better, but even there, fewer than one-third of Texans say they trust their state, county, city and school districts to do the right thing most of the time.
Renée Cross, researcher and senior executive director of the Hobby School, said the skepticism likely fed into the strong support for reform.
"We generally found people felt better about governments closer to home – their city governments and school districts, along with county governments – than the state and federal administrations, but strong majorities support changes to election procedures, from requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote to adopting nonpartisan judicial selection," she said.
For example, Cross said 86% support legislative proposals to require proof of citizenship before registering to vote, while 84% support making it a criminal offense for a school district to become involved in political campaigns. Another 83% support proposals to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying by local governments, while 70% support online voter registration.
"We generally found people felt better about governments closer to home ..."
— Renée Cross, researcher and senior executive director of the Hobby School, University of Houston
A smaller majority, 59%, support banning countywide voting on election day, she said.
Despite the general distrust of government and support for reforms, a number of national and state politicians remain broadly popular.
Mark P. Jones, political science fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and senior research fellow at the Hobby School, said Gov. Greg Abbott is the most popular political figure in the state, with President Donald Trump, former North Texas congressman Colin Allred and Trump advisor Elon Musk not far behind.
"More than half, 56%, of Texans have a favorable opinion of Abbott, while 36% have an unfavorable opinion, giving the governor a net-favorability rating of +20%," Jones said. "President Trump has a similar favorability evaluation, with 55% of Texans saying they have a favorable opinion, but the proportion of Texans with an unfavorable opinion of him is higher at 41%."
Musk's net favorability rating is just slightly lower, at +13%, Jones said, while Vice President J.D. Vance's is +12%. Allred's favorability rating fell between that of Abbott and Trump, at +17%.
Among the report's other findings:
- 61% of Texans say things in the United States are on the wrong track; 46% say the same thing about Texas.
- Dissatisfaction with the direction of things in the U.S. was split along generational and partisan lines: 71% of members of the silent and baby boom generations say the U.S. is on the wrong track, compared to 46% of members of Gen Z. 67% of Democrats, and 79% of independents, say the same, compared to 50% of Republicans.
- Attorney General Ken Paxton is the only political figure included in the survey who is viewed unfavorably by a higher proportion of Texans than those who view them favorably – 38% said they view Paxton unfavorably, compared to 36% who have a favorable view of him. 26% said they didn't know enough about him to have an opinion.
- S. Sen. John Cornyn was rated equally – 37% had a favorable opinion, and another 37% had an unfavorable opinion, with 26% not knowing enough about him to have an opinion.
The full report is available on the Hobby School website. The survey was conducted between Jan. 13 and 21, in English and Spanish. The margin of error is +/-2.83%. Earlier reports focused on state budget priorities, vouchers, immigration, gambling, marijuana, abortion and gun control.
Story by Jeannie Kever
