Texas Politics Project

James Henson & Josh Blank look at the where intraparty conflict still lingers and where general election posiitioning is coming into view on this weeks Second Reading podcast. You'll find a link on the Texas Politics Project webstie and via Spotify, YouTube, & Apple Podcasts.

Second Reading: An Uneasy Transition from Primary to General Election Season in Texas The Texas Politics Project conducts regular, non-partisan, statewide polls of registered voters in Texas, and makes the results and data available for public use.

In this week's episode of Unpacking the News, the news segments produced for students enrolled in James Henson & Josh Blank's GOV 310 intro to U.S. and Texas government course, the two look at the U.S. war with Iran and it's possible effects on the 2026 election environment in Texas and the U.S.

Unpacking the News: The U.S. at War in iran James Henson and Joshua Blank look at the war in Iran, including useful background from CNN on the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, recent CBS/YouGov polli...

New Second Reading Podcast: James Henson & Josh BlankI talk over the latest twists in the GOP Senate run off in Texas, then dig into what public opinion data tells us about the possible impact of the U.S. war in Iran on the political climate in Texas. https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/blog/the-u-s-war-in-iran-and-the-election-climate-in-texas

In a new Second Reading podcast, James Henson & Josh Blank took at results and implications of the (comparatively) robust primary elections in Texas.

Texas Delivers a Dramatic Primary Election After months of anticipation, James Henson and Joshua Blank look at the results of the Texas primary election.

We compiled Texas public opinion data to consider the potential primary audiences for Democratic U.S. Senate Primary James Talarico's foregrounding of his progressive Christian theology. See some of that data in the graphics below, follow the link for some discussion.
https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/blog/the-audience-s-for-james-talarico-s-progressive-christianity-in-the-democratic-primary-2

In a new Second Reading podcast, James Henson & Josh Blank look at a hot week in Texas politics with lots of national connections - the special election in SD 9, the blow-up in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary race, and Donald Trump's public musings that he might endorse in the Republic senate race after all.

Second Reading: A Hot Week in Texas Election Politics The Texas Politics Project conducts regular, non-partisan, statewide polls of registered voters in Texas, and makes the results and data available for public use.

In a new Second Reading Podcast, Josh Blank and James Henson look at just-in-time national polling on immigration enforcement and the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, and dig into Texas data to look at the cross currents in public opinion on immigration, gun rights, and free speech. Follow the link below for a player and supplemental links to and graphics of the data discussed in the pod. Also available via Spotify, YouTube, and Apple podcasts. https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/blog/second-reading-the-collision-of-immigration-gun-rights-and-free-speech-after-another-fatal-shooting-by-federal-agents

In a new Second Reading podcast, James Henson & Josh Blank compare and contrast partisan attitudes on the salience of issues in the upcoming primary elections in Texas. https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/blog/second-reading-podcast-a-weather-report-on-issues-in-the-2026-primaries-2

In the first Second Reading of 2026, James Henson and Joshua Blank look at data from the last UT/Texas Politics Project Poll of 2025, which found increased concern about health care costs (and generally dim views of how both national and state incumbents handled the issue), as well as new data on views of Texas candidates for the U.S. Senate, and views on immigration enforcement (gathered, of course, before events in Minneapolis and Portland).Link to the pod and accompanying graphics at the Texas politics Project website.

Second Reading Podcast: Views on health care and immigration enforcement, plus a check in on the 2026 U.S. Senate race The Texas Politics Project conducts regular, non-partisan, statewide polls of registered voters in Texas, and makes the results and data available for public use.

We just released results from the December 2025 University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll, conducted just before the December 9-16. You'll find many results that set the stage for the election year, including Texans' increased concern about health care prices, views of the economy and state and national political leadership, pre-intervention views of Venezuela, views of immigration enforcement, ratings of 2026 primary candidates (including the U.S. Senate race) and much more. Explore sample graphics below, and follow the link for more details, including our usual selection of hundreds of free graphics of results usable for presentations, teaching, handouts, etc. https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/blog/health-care-prices-top-texans-voters-economic-worries-on-eve-of-critical-midterm-election-year-2

With the new semester kicking off at colleges and universities, many students are searching for internships. If you are a government (including legislative), political, or legal office or organization looking for interns, I encourage you to post your openings at the Texas Politics Project internship bulletin board. It easy to use, and free to use for both employers and students. For more than a decade, we've been connecting students with internship opportunities. The site gets hundreds of thousands of visits every year, and is go-to resource for legislative offices and political organizations of all types. So help our students, and your organization, by posting. It's a public access site, and reaches students across Texas and beyond. At the URL below, just click on "post an internship" and you'll find a very easy to use form you can cut and paste information. Please share if you you're willing, and pass on to potential users. Thanks

Internships The Texas Politics Project conducts regular, non-partisan, statewide polls of registered voters in Texas, and makes the results and data available for public use.

New Second Reading Podcast:

Texas Redistricting Blows Up (Again); the State of the Trump Coalition James Henson & Joshua Blank consider the politics of the federal court decision throwing out the recently redrawn Texas Congressional map, and the MAGA crack...