Beto O’Rourke Trails Greg Abbott By Nearly 20 Points in Post-Uvalde Massacre Poll
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) is leading Democratic Texas gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke by almost 20 points in a poll that was conducted after the Uvalde school massacre.
A survey conducted by BluePrint Polling and released Monday shows Abbott with a 19-point advantage over his Democratic rival among likely voters.
The survey asked, “In the race for Governor the two candidates are Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Beto O’Rourke. If the election were today, which candidate would you support?”
Of those polled, 48.5% said they will vote for Abbott. Another 7% said they are leaning toward voting for the governor.
Meanwhile, 32.9% said they are definitely voting for O’Rourke, while another 4.3% said they are leaning toward voting for the Democrat. The remaining 7.2% said they are unsure.
The poll also asked about Texas’ gun laws. Respondents were queried, “When it comes to buying firearms here in Texas, do you think the laws should be more restrictive, less restrictive or are they about right as they are now?”
A majority of respondents, 61.6%, called for “More restrictive gun purchase laws,” while 7.2% called for “less restrictive” laws. Nearly one-third, 31.2%, said current laws are fine.
BluePrint polling surveyed 603 likely voters from June 8 to June 10, weeks after the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. The poll reported a margin of error of +/- 3.99%.
On May 24, 19 children and two teachers were murdered by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in the city. Existing gun laws quickly became a campaign issue.
O’Rourke previously called for some firearms, such as AR-15s and AK-47s, to be banned.
Beto O’Rourke, who recently appeared at an event with Biden, previously called for a mandatory buyback of assault weapons as a presidential candidate.
“Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15,” he said during a debate.
From the archives, September 2019 https://t.co/IFlYYaIZzG pic.twitter.com/ywlTilOJti
— POLITICO (@politico) March 10, 2020
He later walked back the comments.
In the wake of the Uvalde massacre, he called for new legislation for guns. O’Rourke was escorted out of a public press conference regarding the shooting after he challenged Abbott to a debate on the issue of firearms.
