Most Texas voters say the state is headed in the wrong direction, according to a Texas Politics Project poll released Sept. 8, which found stark partisan divides on leadership and policies. 

The Texas Politics Project is a University project that presents Texans with a non-partisan perspective on current events. Its most recent poll found Texans generally agree on the need for property tax relief and disaster response, but are deeply divided along party lines on issues like redistricting, immigration and state leadership. 

According to the poll, 53% of Texas voters believe the state is heading in the wrong direction. Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project, said although Texans are sometimes described as deeply proud of their state, recent events such as the pandemic, the Texas floods and increasing partisanship may be contributing to this perception. 

“I’m not sure that there’s anything that necessarily is likely to push that trend back in the other direction right now,” Blank said.

Blank said leadership and immigration tend to be top issues for younger voters. Among 18 to 29-year-old Texan voters, 48% strongly disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration and 20% strongly approve. In this age group, 44% strongly disapprove of Gov. Abbott’s performance, and 13% strongly approve.  

The poll shows deep divisions between Democrats and Republicans on many issues, particularly redistricting, where 72% of Democrats strongly disapprove of Texas’s current redistricting efforts and 45% of Republicans strongly approve of these efforts. In regard to state leadership, 80% of Democrats strongly disapprove of Abbott and 47% of Republicans strongly approve of Abbott.

Psychology senior Srushti Bhakta, vice president of BridgeTexas, said she hopes the organization can help students understand differing viewpoints and reduce polarization. BridgeTexas is a multi-partisan student organization encouraging viewpoint diversity around social issues. They encourage open discussions on issues like gerrymandering, birthright citizenship and artificial intelligence, according to the organization’s Instagram. 

“Young people are the future of government (and) democracy, and we do have to step up,” Bhakta said. “We have to engage on those discourses and engage in those empathetic, constructive discussions and newfound diversity.”