The approval rating of Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has plummeted to a record low of 45%, the lowest approval rate he received since he first took office. Now, most Texans believe that the state is heading toward the wrong direction.
The latest survey from The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler revealed that only 45% of Texas constituents approve of the governor’s performance, 14 points down from his previous approval rating before the COVID-19 pandemic begun which killed 60, 000 Texans.
The survey also showed that the majority of Texans now believe that the state is leading on the wrong track. At least 44% of the survey respondents said that Texas is still in the right direction while 54% said that the state is on the wrong path.
The latest numbers show a higher negative response level compared to the statistics two weeks ago where 52% said Texas is headed on the wrong path.
The drop in ratings for Abbott comes after he recently passed intense conservative legislation on the issues of abortions, guns, and the COVID-19 mandates.
Just a few weeks ago, Abbott had moved to approve the prohibition of abortion after six weeks into pregnancy. He also approved and permitted people to carry concealed handguns without permits, and banned the discussions of critical race theory. These issues resulted in a divided response from Texans.
Almost have of Texans believe that the new abortion law should be abolished, while half agrees to the new law. 50% of respondents also said that they disagree with the concealed handgun carry policy and 56% said that teachers must be allowed to discuss critical race theory
Aside from the heavy conservative legislation that Abbott recently passed, the rising COVID-19 cases and mandates in the state have also affected the governor’s approval rating.
At present, the state tops the U.S. with the highest daily average count for COVID-19 cases.
According to data from The New York Times, Texas has more than 15, 000 average daily new infections in just the past two weeks. At least 13,000 people are hospitalized with the virus and over 286 deaths are being recorded on a daily average basis. The state is also one of the few states in the country that have 10% or fewer ICU beds available.
Even if the COVID-19 cases in the state are continuously rising and spreading, Abbott is known to have opposed the COVID-19 safety measures in the country such as the mask and vaccination mandates.
In the latest survey, it revealed that most of Texas constituents disagree with Abbott’s executive order to prohibit mask mandates. 55% said they oppose the move while 44% support the governor’s order.
Even Democratic leaders, healthcare experts, and President Joe Biden has been condemning Abbott over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey had 1, 148 registered voters and was conducted from Sept. 7-Sept. 14 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
