Fox News poll has Texas governor race in virtual dead heat

Democratic candidate for Texas governor Gina Hinojosa has a strong showing as she faces off against Gov. Greg Abbott, according to a recent Fox News Texas poll.

The new Fox News poll shows that Gina Hinojosa is within 1 point of Greg Abbott in the governor's race, at 49% to 50%, inside the margin of error. According to her campaign, Hinojosa is winning with "extremely motivated" voters and the key groups needed for victory, including Independents and Latino voters.

Our campaign is getting stronger by the day because my plan is simple: save public schools and put money in your pocket by ending the Greg Abbott Corruption Tax, Hinojosa said. For 12 years, working Texans have suffered from Abbott's record of putting his billionaire donors before working Texans: $1 billion drained from public schools, skyrocketing costs, and data centers siphoning our resources after getting the most generous tax dollar giveaway in the country.

Other key findings include:

Hinojosa leads with Independents +27, Moderate +21, Black voters +71, Latino voters + 16, and suburban voters +5.

Hinojosa has the strongest net approval of every politician polled at +11, while Abbott fails to build support as he ignores Texans' economic struggles, with only 16% of Texans saying they are getting ahead.

Abbott has maintained a lighter campaign trail in July, leaning on his substantial fundraising advantage, official gubernatorial responses to summer storms and media appearances.

In a stop in East Texas, he promoted his Taxpayer Empowerment Pledge, focused on cutting property taxes, and called for a ban on AI data center construction in rural neighborhoods. He also delivered remarks on economic opportunity and job creation and presented a maritime proclamation at the International Longshoremen's Association Convention.

The poll was conducted July 23-27 with a sample of 1,006 Texas registered voters randomly selected from a statewide voter file and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.