Majority of both Republicans and Democrats say RNC Midterm Convention Made Them More Excited to Vote
The September Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media Texas poll finds 47% of voters support Democrat James Talarico and 46% support Republican Ken Paxton. Four percent are undecided, and 2% support Libertarian Ted Brown. Since August, there has been no significant movement: Talarico gained a point while Paxton lost a point.
“Texas Hispanic voters, who broke for Trump in 2024, now break for Talarico by 15 points, 54% to 39%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “These voters disapprove of the president 53% to 41%, and 51% think the state is on the wrong track rather than the right direction.”
In the race for Governor, 49% support incumbent Republican Greg Abbott, while 46% support Democrat Gina Hinojosa. Four percent are undecided, and 2% support Libertarian Pat Dixon. Since August, Abbott’s support held at 49% while Hinojosa’s support increased one point, from 45% to 46%.
Talarico holds a 48% favorable rating and 42% unfavorable, while 40% have a favorable view of Ken Paxton and 48% unfavorable.
Governor Abbott’s name recognition is split: 46% have a favorable view of the governor, while 47% have an unfavorable view. Forty-two percent have a favorable view of Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa, while 32% have an unfavorable view.
Likely voters have heard a lot (45%) or a little (45%) about the September Republican National Committee midterm convention, while 10% report not hearing about it at all. Of those who heard about the RNC midterm convention, 51% said it made them more excited to vote in November, 47% said it made no impact on their vote, and 2% said it made them less excited to vote.
“Notably, majorities of both Republicans (59%) and Democrats (53%) say the convention made them more excited to vote this November, while 68% of independents say it made no impact on their vote,” Kimball noted.
The economy remains the top issue for Texas voters at 36%, up six points from August, followed by immigration (14%), education (12%), healthcare (11%), and threats to democracy (11%).
- Republicans and Democrats align on the state’s top issue; 38% of Republicans and 37% of Democrats say the economy is the top issue facing the state, compared to 30% of independents.
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling Texas survey was conducted September 12-14, 2026. The sample of likely voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percent. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
Data was collected by contacting registered voters from a probability-based panel of voters provided by Consensus Strategies using MMS text-to-web. Additional panel interviews were provided by PureSpectrum. The survey was hosted on QuestionPro.
All respondents were recruited using customized links that prevent responses from anyone outside of the poll’s sample frame. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was offered in English.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
All questions asked in this survey with exact wording and order, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found below.
