The survey from the 91猎奇 and Texas Southern University asked registered voters across the state about redistricting and other bills passed during the second special session of the Texas Legislature. (Credit Getty Images)
Key Takeaways
- 68% of Texans say it is a major problem when states draw legislative districts to favor one political party. 21% say it is a minor problem; 11% say it is not a problem at all.
- 60% of Texans oppose House Bill 7, which allows private citizens to sue people who provide or distribute abortion medication in the state.
- 68% of Texans support Senate Bill 8, which requires transgender Texans to use the bathroom and locker room in government buildings that correspond to their biological sex.
A substantial majority of Texas voters say drawing legislative districts to favor one political party over another is a problem, according to a new survey by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University.
The finding comes less than two months after the Texas Legislature approved a congressional redistricting map designed to flip five Democratic-held Texas congressional seats to Republican control.
More than two-thirds of voters, or 68%, say partisan redistricting is a major problem, while another 21% call it a minor problem. Slightly more than one in 10, or 11%, say it is not a problem.
The survey by UH鈥檚 Hobby School of Public Affairs and the Executive Master of Public Administration program in the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at TSU asked registered voters across the state about redistricting and other bills passed during the second special session of the Legislature, including bills to limit which restrooms transgender people can use in public buildings and efforts to stop people from providing abortion medications to women in the state.
鈥淥verall, we found wide agreement that partisan redistricting is a problem, with almost 90% saying it is a problem and 68% saying it is a major problem,鈥� said Ren茅e Cross, researcher and senior executive director of the Hobby School. 鈥淏ut as with the other bills we asked Texans to consider, we found stark divisions between Democrats and Republicans on the question.鈥�
While 91% of Democrats identify partisan gerrymandering as a major problem, just 41% of Republicans agree; 77% of independent voters say it is a major problem. Still, Cross noted, another 36% of Republicans say it is a minor problem, meaning more than three out of four Republicans express at least some concern about the practice.
鈥淥verall, we found wide agreement that partisan redistricting is a problem, with almost 90% saying it is a problem and 68% saying it is a major problem. But as with the other bills we asked Texans to consider, we found stark divisions between Democrats and Republicans on the question.鈥�
鈥擱en茅e Cross, UH鈥檚 Hobby School of Public Affairs
A number of states have adopted independent commissions to draw single-member districts to address those concerns, an option that Mark P. Jones, political science fellow at Rice University鈥檚 Baker Institute for Public Policy and senior research fellow at the Hobby School, said appeals to a sizeable number of Texans.
鈥淲e found that almost half of voters, or 46%, think an independent commission should draw these district lines, while 29% favor leaving the power with the Legislature,鈥� Jones said, noting that another 25% were unsure. 鈥淏ut as with the other questions, there was a large partisan divide 鈥� 68% of Democrats prefer an independent commission, and 13% of Democrats favor allowing the Legislature to continue drawing these districts. Among Republican voters, 26% prefer an independent commission, while 48% want to leave the power with the Legislature.鈥�
Among independent voters, 51% favor an independent commission and 15% favor leaving it with the Legislature.
Voters also weighed in on three other bills passed during the second special session, including a bill to allow citizen lawsuits against almost anyone providing abortion medication to a woman in Texas and another requiring transgender Texans to use the restroom that corresponds to their biological sex. That law applies to government buildings, including public schools and universities.
鈥淭here is broad support for Senate Bill 8 regulating which restrooms transgender people can use in public buildings, with 68% saying they support the bill, including 52% who strongly support it,鈥� said Michael O. Adams, director of the Executive Master of Public Administration graduate program at TSU. 鈥淚n contrast, just 40% support House Bill 7, which allows private citizens to sue people who provide or distribute abortion medication within the state. That drops to 22% who strongly support the new abortion restrictions.鈥�
Nearly half, or 46%, strongly oppose the new abortion measure.
Among the report鈥檚 other findings:
- Voters were split on Senate Bill 12, which allows the Texas attorney general to prosecute election-related violations without obtaining the local prosecutor鈥檚 consent. 52% of voters oppose the legislation, while 48% support it.
- Support for SB 12 was strongest among Republicans, at 82%, compared to 15% for Democrats and 40% for independents, and white voters, at 57%, compared to 43% for Latino voters and 20% for Black voters.
- More than nine out of 10 Republicans (94%) support restricting restroom access for transgender people, compared to only 36% of Democrats. More than two-thirds of independent voters (69%) support the legislation. Support among men is 20 points higher than among women, 81% to 61%.
- Similarly, support for the bathroom legislation among members of Generation Z is significantly lower, at 56%, than among older Texans 鈥� 73% among members of the Silent Generation and baby boomers, and 70% among members of Generation X.
- Allowing private citizens to sue people providing abortion medication has majority support only among Republicans, 68% of whom support the measure, compared to 17% of Democrats and 28% of independents. Men are 12 points more likely to support it than women, 47% to 35%.
The full report is available on the Hobby School website. The survey of 1,650 Texas registered voters was conducted between Sept. 19-Oct. 1 in English and Spanish and has a margin of error of +/-2.41%.
A previous report explored voter preferences in the Texas U.S. Senate and state attorney general race. Future reports will look at attitudes about immigration and border security, and household energy use.