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In New Gubernatorial Poll, A 15 Point Gap Between Abbott And Davis

Ryan Poppe/David Martin Davies
/
TPR News
Polls will likely continue to fluctuate in the leadup to the 2014 election.

New polling numbers show a much wider margin between gubernatorial candidates Wendy Davis, a Democrat, and Republican Greg Abbott.

A new poll out from the national group Public Policy Polling shows Davis behind Abbott by a margin of 15 points, which is a ten-point difference from a poll released earlier this week from the University of Texas at Austin's Texas Politics Project and the Texas Tribune.

"The last time we had polled it was in late June, the week after Davis’ famous filibuster, and at that point it was just an eight point race," said Public Policy Polling’s Tom Jensen.

So why the difference in polling numbers?

"What they may be reflective of is that as voters make up their mind in Texas they sort of tend to move toward the Republican, so a poll with fewer undecided may be better for a Republican candidate," Jensen said.

The polling group also took a look at the a lieutenant governor’s race between Republican David Dewhurst and San Antonio Democrat Leticia Van DePutte.

"That does start off as a decently competitive race -- Dewhurst with a nine-point lead 46-37 -- but certainly below the 50 percent level you generally expect from an incumbent to be safe," Jensen said.

Van DePutte has mentioned on more than one occasion she was considering a run for lieutenant governor in 2014. The Public Policy Polling group surveyed 500 registered voters spread throughout the state of Texas.

Ryan started his radio career in 2002 working for Austin’s News Radio KLBJ-AM as a show producer for the station's organic gardening shows. This slowly evolved into a role as the morning show producer and later as the group’s executive producer.