Poll: Trump approval rating underwater in Texas

President Donald Trump is completing his first 100 days in office with an upside-down approval rating in solid-red Texas.

That’s according to a Texas Lyceum poll released Wednesday that found more Texans disapprove of the job Trump is doing than approve, 54 percent to 42 percent. Opinions are sharply divided along party lines: 85 percent of Republicans approve of his performance, while 86 percent of Democrats disapprove.

Trump’s underwater approval rating comes as Texans give overall positive remarks to some of the state’s top statewide officials, especially Gov. Greg Abbott. Fifty-three percent of Texans approve of the job he is doing versus 31 percent who do not, according to the poll.

The poll also looked at the 2018 elections, finding a plurality of registered voters have not tuned in yet to the matchup between U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his Democratic challenger, Beto O’Rourke. Cruz tied with O’Rourke, an El Paso congressman, at 30 percent support among registered voters, but 37 percent said they have not thought about the race yet.

Another Democrat, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, is considering a challenge to Cruz and has said he will decide by the end of the month. He does slightly better against Cruz than O’Rourke does, getting 35 percent support to Cruz’s 31 percent, with 31 percent saying they are not paying attention yet to the race.

The Texas Lyceum conducted the poll from April 3-9 using landline and cell phone interviews. It yielded 1,000 completed interviews. The overall margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points.

Read related coverage:

• Here’s how Texas voted in every presidential election since 1976.
• In Texas, Republican Donald Trump dominated in much of the state, while Hillary Clinton won in major urban areas and along much of the border. Here’s a county-by-county look at where they won.

Disclosure: The Texas Lyceum has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.