Former U.S. president Donald Trump holds a comfortable lead in a hypothetical matchup with incumbent Joe Biden, according to a poll of Texas voters released one year before the 2024 presidential election.
The poll of 1,200 Texans, conducted October 5-17 by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, also gauged respondents' feelings on the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the war in Ukraine and the state of American democracy.
Biden's age — he would be 82 if inaugurated to serve a second term — was a preeminent concern among voters polled, including most Democrats. About two-thirds of all voters said Biden would be too old to be president in 2025, including 52% of Democrats.
Voters were less concerned about Trump's age. The former president would be 78 at the start of a second hypothetical term in 2025. Only 37% of voters, including 19% of Republicans, expressed reservations about Trump's age. Large majorities of Republicans in Texas, north of 80%, expressed support for Trump's leadership and described him as "competent" and "knowledgeable," according to the poll.
Fewer said the former president "cares about people like you" (74%) or "has the temperament to serve effectively as president" (70%). Just 63% of Texas Republicans polled find Trump "honest and trustworthy."
About a third of all Texans polled believe Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 presidential election,
In the wake of the Republican-led effort in the Texas House to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was acquitted in a trial before the Texas Senate in September, a plurality of voters still consider the House's impeachment efforts justified (47%) and believe Paxton participated in actions justifying his removal from office (46%). Pollsters said those results have not significantly changed from polling completed in August, before the Senate trial.
Trust in the democratic process in the United States is low, according to Texans' views. More than half of Texans believe democracy in America is working poorly.
