According to a survey by The Texas Policy Project at the University of Austin.
The poll released last Thursday found that 41% of Texans approved of the work Abbott is doing, compared to 50% who disapproved of their job performance.
Approval is lower than in June, when 44% approved the governor’s performance, equal to 44% who said they disapproved.
Fifty-two percent of voters said the state is going in the wrong direction, the worst the institute has seen since 2008.
The most recent Texas Policy Project survey found that approval of Abbott’s work fell among all party groups, but declined more significantly among independents. Thirty percent of respondents who identified themselves as independent voters said they approved of the work Abbott is doing, down from 41 percent in June.
Its approval fell from 77% to 73% among Republicans and from eight% to six% among Democrats.
The drop in Abbott’s approval rating comes when Lone Star status has been in the national spotlight for several issues.
The Texas legislature last week passed an election review bill that, among other things, prevents election officials from sending unsolicited applications to vote by mail and grants poll observers greater access to polling stations.
Meanwhile, local governments have launched several legal challenges as Abbott signed bans on mask warrants amid rising coronavirus infections.
The poll was conducted just before the controversial abortion law went into effect in the state. The Supreme Court refused to take over last week.
Jim Henson, Texas Policy Project Executive, he told KXAN that while the pandemic was a major factor in dissatisfaction, the state has had a tough year.
“It’s been a tough year in Texas. We could continue the power outages, the infrastructure failures. I think it’s an amalgam of a lot of things that we’ve come to the watershed, “Henson told the newspaper.
He poll polled 1,200 registered voters from 20 to 30 August 2021 and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.83 percentage points.